After spring of experimentation, Griffin ready for return to majors

Foster Griffin started his final Grapefruit League game tonight, but he and three other Nats starters will be staying in Florida for one last tune-up before Opening Day

Photo by Saúl Martinez / NATS JOURNAL

JUPITER, Fla. – Foster Griffin has spent the better part of the last six weeks trying to figure out how his stuff will play against major-league hitters after spending the last three years pitching in Japan. His takeaway as the end of spring training approaches: He’s feeling confident about his chances.

“It’s good,” the left-hander said. “We’ll see how it plays when the season starts.”

There are still 10 days to go until Griffin finds out for real. He’s on schedule to start the Nationals’ fourth game of the season, March 30 in Philadelphia. Between now and then, he’ll continue to prepare both physically and mentally for what will actually be his first career major-league start. (He made seven relief appearances for the Royals and Blue Jays from 2020-22 before becoming one of the best starters in Japan over the last three years.)

“I think I’ve touched on it earlier: I’m going to try not to make the moment too big,” the 30-year-old said. “If I make it too big, it’ll be a lot of anxiety, I guess, for lack of a better word. Not treating it like it’s another start, but maybe look back after the fact and reflect.”

Griffin treated tonight’s start – a 3-2 loss to the Marlins – a little different than he might normally have. In his final Grapefruit League appearance of the spring, he decided to try some things out of his comfort zone. Namely, he ditched his trademark cutter in the first inning and went with the rest of his repertoire.

The result: An early run made possible by two walks and an RBI single.

“I got a little cute there in the first inning, was trying to work on some things,” he said. “It’s not like me to walk two early. So that was a little frustrating. But other than that, I feel pretty good about it.”

The Marlins did score two more runs off Griffin in the third, but he felt only one of their three hits was well-struck (Agustin Ramirez’s double to deep right-center).

Perhaps most importantly, Griffin finished his night strong, retiring seven of the last eight batters he faced, four via strikeout. He wound up going five innings on 78 pitches.

“I kind of kicked in that little bit of competitive edge there,” he said. “And I ended up throwing a couple cutters there, fell back to what I knew, and then threw some really good fastballs to get a couple strikeouts.”

Because his next scheduled day to pitch (Wednesday) is an off-day for the Nationals, Griffin will stay in Florida and make one last spring start, this one against minor-league hitters on a back field in West Palm Beach.

After that? He’ll be a big leaguer for the first time in more than three years. If anyone is still worried his success from Japan won’t translate back here, his manager isn’t.

“I think he’s just a really smart pitcher, and obviously has a variety of different pitches,” manager Blake Butera said. “He just knows what he needs to throw, and he’s able to throw different pitches in different counts and command them, which is not easy to do. And, obviously, being left-handed helps a ton.”

Griffin will have plenty of company staying back here after everyone else breaks camp Saturday evening. While Cade Cavalli – who starts the Grapefruit League finale against the Mets – gets one more traditional spring training start prior to Opening Day, the rest of the rotation won’t have that luxury.

Though the Nationals are set to play two exhibition games up north against the Orioles (away on Sunday, home on Monday), they won’t be sending major-league starters to the mound. Sunday’s game at Camden Yards will feature a minor-league starter, while Monday’s game at Nationals Park will be a bullpen game.

Jake Irvin and Miles Mikolas will remain in West Palm Beach and pitch in minor-league games during that Orioles series. Zack Littell (Tuesday) and Griffin (Wednesday) will follow before flying to Chicago to meet their teammates for Opening Day.

The rationale for that? The Nationals would rather not take the chance having rain or some other weather-related issue disrupting a guy’s final spring start before the season begins.

“It’s easier down here, because you know what the weather’s going to be,” Butera said. “Up there, you just don’t know. It’s also easier to script it out. We’re playing the exhibition games (against the Orioles) pretty straight-up, whereas here we can control the elements and make sure these guys get the work they need to. And then we’ll fly them up.”