The Toronto Blue Jays bolstered their struggling bullpen on Tuesday by acquiring veteran reliever Jason Grilli from the Atlanta Braves for prospect Sean Ratcliffe.
The 39-year-old is off to a rocky start this season, as he comes to Toronto sporting a 5.29 ERA and 1.706 WHIP to go with 23 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched. But he’s not far removed from being an above average arm out of the bullpen.
Last season with the Braves, Grilli racked up 24 saves and 45 strikeouts with a 2.94 ERA over 33.2 innings before an Achilles injury ended his year. The Royal Oak, Mich., native also had an all-star campaign with the Pirates in 2013 in which he picked up 33 saves and posted a 2.70 ERA while striking out a ridiculous 13.3 per nine innings.
Grilli, who is in the second year of a two-year, $8-million deal, joins a Blue Jays bullpen that ranks 16th in baseball with a 3.89 ERA.
Here are a few more things to know about the newest member of the Blue Jays, who you can find on Twitter at @GrillCheese49.
Like father, like son
This will be the second go-around for a Grilli in Toronto.
Grilli’s father, Steve, played parts of four season in the majors, including one game with the Blue Jays in 1979. That likely explains why the Blue Jays were Grilli’s favourite team growing up.
The father-son connection almost first came to pass a few years ago when the Blue Jays made an offer to Grilli as a free agent in 2012 before he re-signed with the Pirates.
Familiar faces
When you’ve pitched for eight different teams over a 14-year career, chances are you’re going to have friends in almost every clubhouse. That will be the case in Toronto, as Grilli has been teammates with a number of current Blue Jays.
Grilli and catcher Russell Martin worked together in Pittsburgh in 2013 and 2014, and he shared a clubhouse with Troy Tulowitzki during his two years in Colorado. He also knows suspended first baseman Chris Colabello and switch-pitcher Pat Venditte from their time together on Italy’s national team at the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
The stuff
Grilli has four pitches in his arsenal, although he leans heavily on his fastball and slider. He also features a changeup and two-seamer.
The slider has historically been his best pitch, although that hasn’t been the case in 2016. Over the course of his big-league career, Grilli has held batters to a .183 average with a strikeout rate of 34.1 per cent when throwing the slide piece. This season batters are hitting .317 off the pitch, which is sitting at about 80 mph — 3 mph below his career average.
Grilli’s fastball, which sat in the mid-90s during his prime years, has also dropped in velocity this year and clocks in around 92 mph.
The change in velocity hasn’t really affected Grilli’s ability to punch out batters. He’s averaging 12.2 strikeouts per nine innings after fanning batters at a similar clip (12.0) a year ago. Where Grilli has struggled is with his control. He has already issued 13 free passes this season in 17 innings after only walking 10 in 2015.
The early years
Grilli was drafted fourth overall by the San Francisco Giants in 1997 after a successful college career at Seton Hall University, where he set a Big East record for strikeouts in a game with 18.
Interestingly enough, a pair of former Blue Jays sandwiched Grilli in the 1997 draft: Troy Glaus went third overall to the Los Angeles Angels, while Toronto took Vernon Wells fifth overall.
After spending a few years in the Giants’ minor-league system, Grilli was traded to the Florida Marlins for Livan Hernandez in 1999 and made his major-league debut the following season. He would later transition to the bullpen while with the Detroit Tigers.
Injury bug
It’s impressive that Grilli is still going strong considering his injury history.
Grilli has suffered a number of devastating injuries throughout his career that have caused him to miss significant time, including a ruptured Achilles tendon last July that ended his season. He missed the entire 2010 season after injuring his knee in spring training and later undergoing surgery for a torn quadriceps, while his 2002 minor-league season was also wiped out due to Tommy John surgery.