”Black & Yellow! Black & Yellow! Black & Yellow! Cannot wait to join the new squadron.”
That was the tweet that Jason Grilli sent out from his popular twitter account (@grillcheese49) last year when he learned he was joining the Pittsburgh Pirates. While Grilli was ecstatic to reunite with manager Clint Hurdle who he pitched for in Colorado, the fans didn’t quite know who he was.
For Grilli, to join a team that was in first place after pitching in the minors last year was the best situation he could ask for.
“I’m having a blast. It’s been stellar so far,” Grilli said. “Being on a team that was on first when I came over and to be on a team that we’re contending right now, you couldn’t ask for a better situation.”
Not only is Grilli contributing to the teams success, but he’s finally settled in a role that he has been looking for so long.
At the beginning of the season, Grilli told me that his hope was to move to the back of the bullpen and become an eighth inning man to setup Joel Hanrahan. Grilli’s wish came true as he has been the go to guy for Hurdle in the late innings.
“I’ve always wanted that role,” Grilli said. “It’s taken me 15 years to get to this point and I’m just trying to contribute the best I can, have fun with it and do what I’m capable of doing. It’s all I can ask of myself and it’s the opportunity I got with the door that opened up. I just kind of walked through it and accepted it gracefully.”
While he wanted to help his team, I don’t know if Grilli ever thought he would contribute as well as he has. Despite blowing the teams first lead after seven innings earlier this week, Grilli still sports a 2.66 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP in 40.2 innings pitched. Over that period of time, Grilli has 63 strikeouts and has allowed just 12 earned runs.
His career hasn’t always been this sweet though. Grilli, No. 4 pick in the 1997 draft, battled through countless number of injuries in his career and at one point, thought he may never pitch again. Grilli describes the dark time in his career in this article that I did earlier this year that can be found HERE.
Grilli was hoping to one day live out the lavish lifestyle of baseball and just turn his career into what he had planned. While he never planned on being a relief pitcher, he said he does finally feel like he’s living his dream.
“I knew it was going to be good. You can’t write – life isn’t what you ever expect it to be,” Grilli said. “You want to write out your plans and it never happens the way you plan it. At least it hasn’t happened for me at this juncture.”
But with 15 years into his career, would Grilli change a thing or keep everything the same?
“I wouldn’t necessarily change some of the experiences because it’s led me to where I’m at right now,” Grilli said. “I look at it like I don’t know what more I can try to do and I’m not going to try to do any more. I’m just going to keep trying to do what I’ve been doing.”
As one of the veteran players on the team, Grilli said along with A.J. Burnett, Rod Barajas, Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen, he sees himself as a leader. But he isn’t one of the cheerleader type leaders as he instead leads by example.
“I’m not a soapbox guy, I kind of just lead by example. And my example has been that I have persevered through a lot and I’m succeeding because of that,” Grilli said. “That’s all that needs to be said. I think a lot of guys appreciate that and appreciate playing behind me.”
As far as what he’s been through, Grilli said the guys know and it doesn’t have to be told to them.
“I think guys respect what I’ve been through. They know my story. I don’t think it has to be said,” Grilli said. “I think a lot of guys respect that I’m still around.”
“I’m one of the older guys on the team and I fit in. Some of the guys don’t say that I act like that, but I don’t want to be (old),” Grilli said laughing. “But yeah, it’s nice to be thought of as a leader.”
Earlier this season, ROOT Sports would run the promo with Grilli talking to Evan Meek at spring training where Grilli would say, “I’m wired.” Grilli has showed he is wired on and off the field with his teammates, but after notching a save earlier this year, Grilli emphatically fist-pumped off the mound following the game-winning strikeout.
Grilli said by giving off that emotion, he’s doing exactly what he needs to be doing.
“I’m a guy that wears my heart on my sleeve,” Grilli said. “If I give off that energy, then I’m doing what I’m responsible to do because we have a big responsibility when putting on this uniform. I walk down that tunnel with the Roberto Clemente saying, “When I put on my uniform, I am the proudest man on earth.” It’s the truth. It’s the truth.”
And Grilli is proud to put on that uniform, but not just for himself or his teammates, but also for the city of Pittsburgh.
He may be a relative newcomer to the city, but that doesn’t mean that he and his teammates don’t know about the hard times that these fans and the organization have gone through.
“I know what these fans have been through. I think it starts in here,” Grilli said. “We could be selfish and say ‘We are doing that,’ but this game is shared. We wouldn’t be anything without the fans here and sharing that and seeing their excitement with the people coming up to us thanking us, picking up our tab or buying us a drink, or just coming up and thanking us that their kid is into baseball again because they’re watching the Pirates.”
It always helps of course that the team is winning. Grilli said that the team realizes they could be talked about for a long time if they finish what they’ve started.
“When you’re in first place, everyone wants to be a part of that. When you’re winning, it’s something everyone wants to be a part of,” Grilli said. “That’s something that hasn’t happened around here in a long time. It’ll be something that will be talked about for a long time if we can finish what we set out to do. That’s a lot of baseball to play and we have to find out where we’re going with this whole thing.”
Photo Credits: Getty Images
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