Jason Grilli in the sixth inning?
The Braves reliever worked a perfect inning early in Monday’s 6-4 loss to the Nationals. Manager Fredi Gonzalez said Tuesday it’s possible the closer could be used in similar situations as he works his way back from a ruptured Achilles tendon. The appearance was by design.
“(Monday) was one of those things where Jason and I and (pitching coach) Roger (McDowell) had spoken since his last outing at home,” Gonzalez said. “He felt like, to use his words, ‘I feel a click off.’ He explained it like a shooter’s touch in basketball. They can feel a click off. Same thing with a golfer. We agreed. Because this guy doesn’t walk four guys all year, and he walked four guys in two appearances.”
In the sixth, Grilli caught Stephen Drew’s pop-up, struck out Michael Taylor and got Anthony Rendon to fly out to right.
Grilli, 39, suffered his injury just before the All-Star break on July 11 last year. At that point he was 3-4 with a 2.94 ERA and 24 saves in 36 appearances. Including Monday, Grilli now has a 6.75 ERA in three appearances with three strikeouts and four walks. He has one blown save, allowing the tying run to score in the ninth against the Nationals on April 4.
“We talked about it,” Gonzalez said. “I said, ‘Hey listen, we are not going to put you in a high-leverage situation. It’s not fair to you, it’s not fair to us, to put you out there in the eighth or ninth inning facing (Ryan) Zimmerman, (Bryce) Harper and (Anthony) Rendon.’ He’s good. He’s fine with that. (Monday) we ran him out there and he worked on his curveball and his curveball is starting to get sharp again. So we feel closer that he’s the Grilli that we want out there to pitch the back end of the game.”
Gonzalez reiterated the plan is not because of Grilli’s injury but a way to fine tune his mechanics.
“It was his best outing,” Gonzalez said. “He felt good about it. Good for him. Good for us. … We’ll keep talking with him and see how he feels.”
