While the Yankees offense has turned things around just enough to get back to winning ways on Sunday and Monday, there hasn’t been a lot to celebrate on that side of the ball. Entering play on Memorial Day, the Yankees had scored two or fewer runs in their previous four contests. That being said, hopefully the manner of winning their last two games with flurries in the ninth inning can spur the unit on to a high scoring road trip. The moment that will hopefully catalyze this was obviously Aaron Judge’s walk-off home run over the Rays, but that moment does not happen if not for the hard work of Trent Grisham batting before him in that frame.
We join Grisham with the game still scoreless heading to the bottom of the ninth. Ryan Weathers pitched brilliantly to give them seven scoreless, now it was the offense’s turn to uphold their end of the bargain. Grisham was one of the few Yankees hitters who had success against Rays starter Drew Rasmussen with singles in the third and sixth. Now, he’s tasked with getting on base for Judge and Ben Rice behind him.
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Both of Grisham’s singles came on fastballs on the outer half, so it is no surprise to see Rays reliever Kevin Kelly try to bust him inside with a first-pitch sinker. Kelly is sort of like the right-handed Tim Hill, the vast majority of his pitches being sinkers thrown from a sidearm delivery that makes it difficult to track the baseball.
This is an excellent first pitch sinker from Kelly. He starts it at Grisham’s front hip causing him to give up on the pitch almost immediately, only for the sinker’s 21 inches of arm-side run to carry it across the corner up and in for the called strike one.
After watching Grisham give up early on the previous pitch, Kelly has a chance to induce a whiff against the changeup if he can make it look similar to the sinker.
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Kelly tunnels this changeup expertly off the sinker that immediately preceded it. Out of the hand, this looks to Grisham a lot like the sinker that just got called a strike, so he has to swing. However, this pitch drops ten more inches than that sinker causing Grisham to chase and whiff miles over the top of the off-speed.
Just like that, Grisham finds himself in the hole, 0-2. He hasn’t done a whole lot wrong in the AB, he’s just fallen victim to the perfect two-pitch sequence from Kelly, the righty reliever executing both pitches precisely to earn the called and then swinging strike. Given Grisham’s willingness to chase the changeup, you might expect Kelly to double up on the pitch here, but instead he tries to climb the ladder with a four-seamer and see if he can get Grisham to chase that way.
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Kelly sails this pitch well above the zone for an easy take from Grisham. While seemingly a waste pitch, at least Kelly is able to reset the hitter’s eye level up, which should allow him to go back to the off-speed below the zone.
Indeed, Kelly returns to the changeup hoping for a similar execution and result as the first one he threw.
This is the best take from Grisham in this encounter. This changeup looks like a strike down the middle out of the hand before whizzing into the opposite batter’s box, yet somehow Grisham doesn’t even flinch. His take on this pitch and the first pitch sinker as well as the chase on the 0-1 changeup tells me he is hunting something down and in that he can pull in the air toward the short porch in right.
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Kelly’s MO seems to be to change speeds from pitch to pitch, so after slowing things down with that changeup, he speeds back up to the sinker hoping to catch Grisham late.
Once again we get a disciplined take from Grisham on a pitch that starts aimed toward the outer half yet still well within the strike zone. It’s like Grisham is instantly able to eliminate any pitch that starts away, which tells me he has done his homework against Kelly. Kelly’s only pitch that moves toward a lefty is the sweeper, but it is a pitch he throws exclusively to right handers, meaning Grisham knows that everything Kelly throws at him is going to move away.
Grisham has done well to grind back from 0-2 to a full count. He’s just one more good take away from getting on as the leadoff man ahead of Judge.
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Once again, not a bad sinker from Kelly per se, but since we have established that nothing Kelly throws is going to break toward Grisham, he is once again able to instantly eliminate this pitch given it starts aimed in the zone but away.
Here’s the full PA:
As an added bonus, we ought to relive the blast that this walk set up. Judge stays back on a first-pitch sinker from Kelly, staying inside of this pitch down and in and riding it out of the yard to the opposite field. This is vintage Judge, knowing he has the strength to leave all parts of the ballpark, which gives him that extra second to let the pitch travel, identify sinker, and get off his A-swing.
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In his post game comments, Judge’s first words were to praise this walk by Grisham, plainly stating that the walk-off home run would not have been possible if not for Grisham’s plate appearance. Grisham gave Judge the opportunity to see six pitches from Kelly, allowing the captain to key in on release, movement, and sequencing. Judge insisted that his home run swing was assisted by being able to track three different sinkers on their path toward home before even stepping into the batter’s box.
For all the early hand-wringing, Grisham has been one of the few consistent contributors of a late with a 130 wRC+ in May. His ability to work deep counts and fight back from behind to draw a walk means he remains the team’s best option to lead off, Judge himself confirming how valuable it is for himself to watch Grisham take an AB before he steps in. And as for Judge, this home run was a nice way to start breaking him out of his slump, the power he showed to the opposite field with this blast and his double against the Royals the following afternoon telling me that he’s on his way back to the Judge we all expect.
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