Columnist image

| Archive

At the age of 40, it would be easy to assume the end is near for Jason Grilli.

He’s adamant, however, it will be on his terms and when he wants to go, rather than via a situation dictated by poor performance.

But that’s exactly what just about everyone watching on the afternoon of June 3 thought when the Toronto Blue Jays' veteran gave up four home runs to the New York Yankees, the first time in franchise history a reliever has served up that many in a single inning.

It wasn’t a one-off, either.

It's a continuation of a tough season for Grilli, whose ERA sits at a bloated 7.71 and his previous high-leverage setup role has been whittled down to whatever mop-up work manager John Gibbons can find for him.

After Grilli’s cheese — and his slider — was drilled by the Yanks, he didn’t appear in a game again until a one-inning stint Tuesday in a lost cause situation against the Tampa Bay Rays, a span of 10 days.

During that time, Grilli didn’t try to reinvent the wheel that rolled him into the majors almost two decades ago.

“I’m doing the same things,” Grilli said Wednesday afternoon, one day after allowing a hit in an otherwise clean inning against the Rays. “Am I happy about how things have gone? No. But it’s a long season and we’ve got a lot of time left to finish and continue to do it. It’s not like I lost any ability. Despite what people might think or what they say, I don’t give a s--t. I know me. I know what I’ve been through. I know what I’m capable of doing.”

Grilli doesn’t have an explanation for his struggles this season.

Or at least one that he wants to talk about publicly.

If you need one, all you have to do is look at his slider, a pitch that opposing hitters have hammered to the tune of a .440 batting average and a 1.240 slugging percentage.

Of the nine home runs Grilli has given up this season — he allowed 10 all of last year — six of them have come on sliders.

Last year, the slider was Grilli’s put-away pitch, where he held hitters to a measly .143 average.

Bumped out of his setup role by the trio of Joe Smith, Ryan Tepera and Danny Barnes, many have wondered if Grilli is limping towards the finish line, but he doesn’t care.

“I don’t listen to it,” Grilli said. “How’s that going to benefit me? Is that going to help my confidence? The thing that I do appreciate is this town. There’s a lot of love here for me and they know what I’m capable of doing and I’m appreciative of those people.

“The real fans understand how hard this game is and know you have to work hard. It’s a hard game. I’ve done this for 20 years and that doesn’t happen by accident.”

Gibbons seems to be taking a similar approach to Grilli’s struggles, choosing to simply put the right-hander on ice until there was an opportunity to let him start to figure out a solution in a game situation.

“It’s hard, simply because I like the guy so much,” Gibbons said. “Everybody does. He’s had a tremendous career. Grilli’s had some great moments here, had some big games for us and he had been pitching pretty good for us lately. It was just one of those days.”

Days like the one against the Bronx Bombers are why the fist-pumping, hair-tossing Grilli shows so much emotion on the mound.

“There’s no one booing me or cheering me more than me,” said Grilli, a free agent at the end of the season. “That’s why I get excited out there and I celebrate. It’s a pat on the back and I don’t think enough people do it. It’s not to show up any hitter, it’s just I’m excited about what the victory is. You have to experience some pain to know what the victory is.”