Obscure Sports Stars: Jason Grilli

Every so often Exquisite Sports Talk will tell you about an Obscure Sports Star. Whether wildly unknown due to the sport involved, the position he plays, or someone coming out of nowhere in sport that is already “mainstream”, Exquisite Sports Talk has you covered.

If you are a regular follower of baseball, you no doubt will already know who Jason Grilli is because he is an all-star closer on the Pittsburgh Pirates, currently vying for the NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals. But for the casual fan that knows only superstars, they may be unaware of the brilliance the Jason Grilli provides, and he has a really awesome story to boot.

Every great closer is known for their introduction…Mariano had Enter the Sandman, Trevor Hoffman had “Hell’s Bells“, and Jason Grilli grills a grilled cheese in his. But it hasn’t always been delicious cheese and bacon for Jason. Grilli was drafted with the 4th pick overall in the 1997 MLB draft. Despite his pedigree, he never got much of a chance as a starter…his ERA with the Marlins in the majors was over 6.00 over the course of two years and a total of 33 1/3 innings, and he got put back into the minor leagues. When he finally made it back to the majors in 2004 with the White Sox, his eight starts resulted in 3 earned runs or more every time and a 7.40 ERA over that time. Grilli moved on to the Tigers, where like many failed starters he got his shot in the bullpen.

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows there either…an ERA well over 4 out of the pen isn’t great, but the end of his time there he did adapt the pitch that changed his success in the majors: his slider. Taught by teammate Jeremy Bonderman, Grilli adapted a slider after having little success with his curveball, and has used the pitch ever since.

Detroit led to Colorado, which led to the minors and being traded again to the Rangers, and then the Indians. In 2010 on a minor league contract with the Indians, Grilli injured his knee ending his season, and what many would have likely thought to be his career, having not made it back up to the majors. But in 2011 he signed a minor league deal with the Phillies, where he pitched extremely well posting a 1.93 ERA over 32 1/3 innings. While he ended up cut, this was enough to get a shot with another roster.

After 8 major league teams and 13 years playing professional baseball, Grilli finally found a home in Pittsburgh, posting a sub 3 ERA for the first time in his career as a setup man, and striking out more batters than he ever has. This year, he was made the team’s closer and earned a spot on the National League All-Star team.

Grilli is striking out a higher percentage of batters, throwing more strikes, and walking less people. His success is due in large part to an increase in movement on his slider, but also velocity on his fastball . Despite being 36, the past few seasons have seen an increase in his velocity and throwing only 3 pitches. His fastball the past couple of years averages around 93.5 mph, up from 92 he was throwing from 2008-2011. He exclusively uses that slider instead of a curveball now, as well as a change-up (rarely). That slider moves a full 3 1/2 inches more than it used to, and you can see the results below.

Grilli is a fan favorite with the Pirates now…he turned down more money to sign a 2 year, 6.75 million dollar deal with the Pirates to reward them for giving him a chance. He’s been rewarding to us watching as well, and here’s to hoping he keeps it up.

Now for the bio!

Name: Jason Grilli

Age: 36

Born: Royal Oak, Michigan

College: Seton Hall University

Position: Closer, Pittsburgh Pirates

Twitter Handle: GrilledCheese49

Family Relations: Father is Steve Grilli who was a former professional pitcher himself. Steve was the losing pitcher in the longest game in professional baseball history. It lasted 33 innings!

Wife: Danielle Hurt

Kids: One Son

Side story: Grilli also invited out Breeanna McMahon out to the All-Star game this year, after they spent time rehabbing together in Colorado when he was injured. Breeanna had lost her leg in a fund-raising car-wash, but her school honored her scholarship and she continues to play on despite her lost leg. You can read a little more about that here.