Garrett retired all six batters he faced in his spring training debut Sunday, striking out four, drawing the attention of manager Bryan Price, the Cincinnati Enquirer's John Fay reports. "Amir was as good as I've ever seen him," Price said. "He had velocity with command and threw the slider and changeup for strikes. He was filthy. That's the type of performance you want to see from a guy that's coming off of a tough season. He came out. He was snorting fire and attacked the zone. It was one of those dare-to-be-noticed moments because he was a standout, an absolute standout."
The big takeaway from Garrett's performance was how strong his fastball looked, after his fastball was his weakest pitch last season. He still has an uphill battle to win a rotation spot and certainly can't win it on the basis of one spring training outing, but all in all it's better that it was a good outing for him.