Despite early ups and downs, Randal Grichuk 'glad I'm here' with Blue Jays

Jenn Smith

Despite early ups and downs, Randal Grichuk 'glad I'm here' with Blue Jays image

Randal Grichuk was on his way to sunny California to spend a few days in Los Angeles with a friend when he received the call that he had been traded from the St. Louis Cardinals, where he spent four seasons, and would be heading north of the border to the Toronto Blue Jays.

“It was pretty cool when I got the call to kind of realize that you're playing for Canada's team.” Grichuk recently told Sporting News.

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The 26-year-old Texan admits he knew very little about Toronto prior to the trade and engaged in a little research to learn about his new home.

“Baseball-wise all teams are pretty much even in the sense of how they're run and that kind of thing,” said Grichuk. “So, for me, it was more of getting to know some of the guys on the team, understanding what the team is all about and also the city. What there is to do in the city, where to live, that kind of thing. St. Louis is a lot different of a city than Toronto, not as much going on and not as much to do.”

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Grichuk may have known little about the Toronto, but one thing of which he was aware was that he was being asked to step into some big shoes. The young outfielder was acquired to replace one of the most legendary players in Blue Jays’ history, José Bautista.

“I know Bautista struggled last year, but he was amazing for years before that, so I knew it was one of things that I needed to come make an impact,” Grichuk explained. “Unfortunately, I didn't start out the way I wanted, but that's why we play 162 and there's a lot of games left and a lot of ABs to change minds and make this season a successful one."

To say that Grichuk got off to a poor start with his new team is an understatement. Through March and April, a timeframe spanning 21 games, Grichuk slashed .106/.208/.227 with a paltry wRC+ of 19. His reputation for being a power hitter who strikes out a lot came half-true – he struck out in 31.2% of his at-bats while hitting just two home runs. It was not the type of first impression the outfielder wanted to make, and it was obvious that an adjustment had to be made.

"It's tough to hit in the league feeling good, and it's even tougher when you're trying to change your swing and change your setup, so it was tough,” said Grichuk, who sought consul from Jays hitting coach Brooke Jacoby and manager John Gibbons.

 

Obviously, getting hurt is never what you want to do but I think it was definitely something that helped me out."

Grichuk then hit the disabled list on April 30th with a knee injury stemming from a beautiful, but awkward, diving grab against the Rangers the previous day. But Grichuk didn’t just rehab during his month-long DL stint. He utilized the time to work with the minor-league coaches, making adjustments to his batting stance with the hopes of improving his production.

It worked.

In the month of June, Grichuk slashed .294/.341/.647 with an impressive 167 wRC+. More importantly, he drastically reduced his strikeout rate to 19.7% while smashing eight home runs.

“Being hurt, I was able to go take a step back and be able to work, understanding that my four at-bats tonight aren't going to make or break me and make me change my opinion on it and it was just go in there and work a couple of hours a day and feel good and get consistent with what I was doing.”

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Altering his stance in the batter’s box played a major role in the turnaround.

"I think the stance has been a big key to it and I think it's been able to allow me to limit some of the holes that I had in my swing and in the zone,” explained Grichuk. “So, I'm being able to put more balls in play, lay off some pitches out of the zone and create more hard contact."

Not only has Grichuk been able to induce more hard contact, he’s also lowered his launch angle, which in turn has increased his line drive rate while decreasing his fly ball rate.

Grichuk’s walk-up music, “Here Comes the Boom” by Nelly – which he has had since high school and throughout his career -  foreshadows what he is best known for when he comes to the plate: raw power. He holds the record for the longest home run by a Cardinals player at Busch Stadium, and last month he smashed the second-furthest home run for the month of June, a 471-foot blast that now holds the record for the longest home run hit at Minute Maid Park in Houston since the introduction of Statcast.

 

Grichuk says he’s always been called “wiry strong”, but can’t quite pinpoint exactly how he generates the necessary bat speed to which he attributes his power.

“That's one of those things that, growing up, guys that maybe don't have good bat speed want to know and, even if you do have it, you want to get better and I haven't found anything that can justify what exactly goes into making your bat speed quicker,” Grichuk told Sporting News. “They say heavy bats, light bats, like kind of switching it up. I think you're just gifted with it or not, really. honestly."

Growing up in Texas, Grichuk’s love of the game was instilled in him by his father, who took him to Houston Astros and University of Houston Cougar baseball games. A natural athlete, he also played both football and basketball in junior high, but was told by his high school baseball coach that he, along with his teammates, should give up playing other sports to focus solely on baseball. As Grichuk reflects, “it looks like it worked out well now.”

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Success moving forward, according to Grichuk, means having a statistically good year. Rather than setting goals, which could lead to a change in approach should he fall short, Grichuk is focused on having quality at-bats and helping his team win. This mindset stems from what he says is the best advice he’s ever received is to just have fun and never get too high or too low, regardless of his production.

“I feel like this year I've been able to do a better job of that,” offered Grichuk. “Obviously, the beginning didn't go as well as I wanted, but I feel like I didn't get as low as I could have. I felt pretty good with where I was at even though I wasn't producing. And right now I had a really good month of June but I still look up at the scoreboard and know there's a lot of work to do still in the rest of the season and I'm not satisfied with where I’m at now."

Regardless of how this season concludes, Grichuk will be an integral part of this Blue Jays team as it transitions over the next few years.

“It's definitely a good place. Glad I'm here."

Jenn Smith