Pirates’ Grilli, 35, having best season

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

The first time Clint Hurdle introduced himself to Jason Grilli when the two were with the Colorado Rockies in 2008, the always blunt manager asked the hard-throwing reliever, “what do you want out of your career?”

And Grilli’s was blown away.

“I was like ‘Are you serious or are you just trying to make small talk?”’ Grilli said with a laugh. “I’d been waiting for somebody to ask me that my whole life.”

The former first-round pick who flamed out as a starter before becoming a nomadic middle reliever told Hurdle he wanted to become a back-end of the bullpen guy.

Hurdle promised to do what he can. And he did. In Pittsburgh.

Three years later.

The Pirates signed Grilli to help out a patched-together bullpen last summer as the club tried to make a rare late-season push. He was a pleasant surprise in 24 appearances, going 2-1 with a 2.48 ERA.

““It was a good fit for both of us,” said Hurdle.

What Grilli is doing this season defies explanation.

The 35-year-old right-hander is off to the best start of his career for the Pirates (25-25), who begin a three-game series in Milwaukee tonight.

Grilli is 1-1 with a 1.80 ERA in 21 appearances this season. Good numbers to be sure. It’s the one in the strikeout column, however, that leaves opposing batters shaking their head.

Grilli has fanned 35 of the 82 batters he’s faced this season and is averaging 15.8 strikeouts per nine innings, nearly double his career average.

If he can keep it up for another month, he’s a legitimate All-Star candidate. Ask him the secret and he flashes a sly smile.

“I think it has to do with giving apple to deer in the five-acre woods in the house I’m renting, eating cream cheese and washing it down with a good, cold Budweiser,” he said.

Pittsburgh has played in more one-run games (23) than any team in baseball, with a 14-9 record to show for it. It’s the kind of contests the offensively challenged team has to win to stay competitive.

Nearly every time Grilli takes the mound, something is at stake. It’s a far cry from his days as a mop-up guy in Detroit, where he was “booed out of the city” after failing to carve out a defined niche. He’s found one in Pittsburgh.

“I don’t have to be labeled something but we’re all looking for roles,” he said. “When the phone rings and they give me the ball, that’s when I take it. I consider myself a pitcher.”

One who believes his best days are still ahead.