Foster Griffin’s debut with Royals presented a cruel juxtaposition of joy and pain
The night appeared to line up for one of those fairytale-type confluences of events that baseball has a knack for producing.
Royals pitcher and former first-round draft pick Foster Griffin, having toiled in the minors for years, would step in unexpectedly and make his MLB debut Monday in Detroit. He’d strike out the first batter he’d face and earn the win — on his 25th birthday, no less.
Unfortunately, the left-hander’s night did not have a storybook ending.
Griffin, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound native of Orlando, pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings that coincided with the Royals’ offensive explosion against the Tigers. But before he could complete a second inning, a forearm strain forced a premature end to his outing.
After the game, Griffin stood in front of a camera and spoke with reporters via a video conference. He lauded his team for pulling out a 14-6 win after being down 5-1 after the second inning.
Griffin explained that he’d have to wait for further medical evaluation on his forearm before he’d knew the full extent of the injury. Then he choked up as he tried to express the shock and frustration he was feeling.
“Day one this happened. I’ve been healthy my whole career,” an emotional Griffin said as his voice trembled slightly. “It wasn’t easy.”
The 28th overall pick in the 2014 MLB draft, Griffin pitched in 141 minor-league games (139 starts) before he heard his name announced over the public-address system in Comerica Park Monday night.
Last week, upon making the Royals’ opening day roster for the first time in his career, Griffin shared an anecdote that encapsulated just how disheartening his early years in the minors had been.
Asked if he ever doubted his chance in the majors would come, Griffin replied, “A hundred percent I did. It’s kind of an embarrassing story, but I definitely remember 2016 I was in Myrtle Beach pitching and I’d been through a terrible slump and I couldn’t find my way out. My parents were there, and I was in tears in the back of my parents’ car in 2016 because I felt like I would never get out of this.
“To kind of see this come full (circle) now, even given the circumstances, is really cool. I definitely think the struggles in the minor leagues are going to help me going forward just because I did come out of them. I do think that’s something I’ll be able to take going forward at the major-league level, as well.”
One of the things that helped Griffin get past that mental barrier in 2016 was a change in approach and attitude on the mound.
He’d given hitters “way too much credit,” he said. Instead of going on the attack, the idea that he was a “finesse” pitcher had been so deeply ingrained in his mind that he tried to pitch too fine, nibbling at corners, looking to make perfect pitches and worrying too much about his opponents instead of making them worry about him.
Since his tearful breakdown with his parents in 2016, Griffin has kept making strides.
In 2017, he earned mid-season All-Star honors for High-A Wilmington in the Carolina League and also a selection to the MLB All-Star Futures Game. In 2018, he earned mid-season All-Star honors at Double-A Northwest Arkansas of the Texas League. Then last year, he garnered postseason Pacific Coast League All-Star honors for Triple-A Omaha.
In spring training this year, Griffin picked the brain of Royals starting pitcher Mike Montgomery. Montgomery, a left-hander who has been a starter, short reliever, long reliever and swing man during his career, has a profile similar to Griffin’s.
Griffin added a cutter to his pitching arsenal this season, and he’d been studying Montgomery’s use of the pitch in Arizona during the club’s initial spring training camp.
Montgomery described Griffin’s role this season — being counted on to do a little bit of everything, from potential spot-starts to long relief to shorter relief outings — as a great opportunity and one he could learn from.
“I’ve been a guy that has been through every role that you can,” Montgomery said. “I’ve told (Griffin) and I’ve told some other of these young guys, ‘You get people out, and they’re going to keep putting you out there.’ That’s really the name of the game. It’s not giving up runs, and you’ll find yourself getting more opportunities.”
Ironically, Montgomery’s struggles out of the gate Monday night led to Griffin entering the game after the second inning.
Griffin came in and attacked Tigers cleanup hitter C.J. Cron, who launched 25 home runs last year and 30 the year before. Griffin struck him out swinging. In fact, he got ahead 0-2 on each of the first two batters he faced. He didn’t give up a hit or a walk in his 1 2/3 innings.
But after one of Griffin’s pitches against JaCoby Jones, catcher Salvador Perez noticed something off with his pitcher. Perez alerted the KC bench. Griffin threw one more pitch and got Jones to pop out. Later, Griffin told manager Mike Matheny that he didn’t feel bad throwing the pitch, but it didn’t have much behind it.
Upon Perez’s urging, Matheny and a member of the Royals’ training staff paid a visit to the mound. Griffin seemed to gesture to his forearm, then threw one more pitch to Perez with no batter in the box. The stadium radar gun registered that pitch at 85 mph.
Griffin walked behind the mound after the pitch, then stepped back up to the rubber, where he had a final exchange with Matheny. Perez tapped him on the chest, and seconds later Griffin walked off the field and into the dugout.
The Royals rallied in the fop of the fourth, so Griffin left with his team comfortably ahead and earned his first win in the majors.
But now comes the uncertainty about his health.
“He was a little distraught after the game,” Matheny said. “He’s been so healthy his whole career. He’s worked so hard. This guy is so disciplined on how he treats himself and takes care of his body.
“It’s one of those peaks and valleys all in the same day. You get not just your debut, but you strike out a very good hitter on your very first at-bat, the first guy you face. We were going to let him ride. We loved how he was pitching.”
This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 12:15 PM with the headline "Foster Griffin’s debut with Royals presented a cruel juxtaposition of joy and pain."
