By no means has the Washington Nationals rotation been great, but it feels like Foster Griffin is keeping the group above water right now. Last night he had a quality start and went six innings for the first time this season. He did not put up sexy strikeout numbers, but he did his job. That is what we have come to expect from Foster Griffin.
Last night, Foster Griffin had a tough
task in front of him. He was tasked with slowing down a Braves lineup that had been on a roll lately. A cerebral pitcher, Griffin knew the challenges that confronted him. However, he made a key adjustment early in the game that let him keep Braves hitters off balance.
While Griffin has a 7 pitch mix, when the chips are down, he usually goes to his cutter. That is his bread and butter, and the pitch he is most comfortable with. However, Braves hitters also knew this, so Griffin had to make an adjustment. For the season, Griffin throws his cutter 30% of the time, but last night, he was only throwing it 22% of the time. He threw 6 pitches at least 10% of the time last night, which is rare to see.
After the game, Griffin told me that he thought the Braves were sitting on the cutter inside early in the game. The way he saw this was that Braves hitters were hitting the ball hard even on cutters off the plate inside. When Griffin saw that, he knew he needed to adjust and become less predictable.
As the game progressed, Griffin truly gave Braves hitters the kitchen sink. I was impressed by how he was using his changeup and splitter. Seeing guys with two offspeed pitches is rare, and it can be a weapon. In pitching, weird is good, and having those two pitches working at the same time is weird.
As Griffin acknowledged, this Braves lineup is really good, so things were not perfect. He allowed a couple solo shots, on pitches that were not even terrible mistakes. I still cannot believe that the ball Eli White hit left the yard. Drake Baldwin also hit a homer on a pitch at his ankles.
However, Griffin was able to complete six innings. That was only the second time all season that a Nats starter went six and the first time since Cade Cavalli did it on April 1st. As the season goes on, I would expect starters to go deeper into games. You cannot overwork the bullpen, so when guys are throwing the ball well, Blake Butera is likely to ride them longer.
As the season progresses, I expect Griffin in particular to go six on a fairly regular basis. He has established himself as the Nats best starting pitcher. With that distinction under his belt, he will have more trust from Butera. He can also change how he attacks pitchers as he gets deeper into games with his deep mix.
Butera showed Griffin a lot of trust last night. After Griffin walked Austin Riley, Maurico Dubon, who had gone 2/2 came to the plate. Blake Butera came to the mound, and almost everyone thought Griffin was done. I say almost everyone because Luis Garcia Jr. said he could tell by Butera’s walk that Griffin was staying in.
Before this, whenever Butera went to the mound, it meant the pitcher was done. However, Butera was undecided when he went to the mound. When Griffin told him emphatically that he felt good, that was all Butera needed to hear.
Ironically, Dubon going 2/2 seemed to help Griffin in a way. He told reporters that Dubon’s success gave him an idea of how he was being attacked. Dubon had gotten two hits on two pitches down in the zone. Using that information, Griffin perfectly placed a cutter on the inside corner and got the ground ball he was looking for.
That cerebral sequence is what makes Foster Griffin effective. He may not have one elite pitch, but he has so many different weapons he can use in different situations. While the Braves may have been sitting on the cutter inside early in the game, he had shown them enough of his mix to come back to that pitch when it mattered most.
With the way Griffin is pitching, he could be in demand at this deadline. I am just going to enjoy him as long as I can as a Nat. He is such a smart pitcher and a student of the game. It is refreshing to see a guy excel while not throwing upper 90’s gas. Sometimes a good game plan and a bunch of different weapons is enough to get the job done.
You also have to credit Paul Toboni for taking a chance on a 30 year old who had spent the last three seasons in Japan. He thought Griffin’s deep mix and pitching IQ would translate, and so far it has in a big way. While Griffin is not an ace, you know that he will be solid every time he takes the mound.
