Justin Grimm Profile

In Commentary And Analysis, News And Rumors, Transactions by dmick8932 Comments

grimmx-largeYesterday the Cubs traded Matt Garza to the Rangers for a package of prospects that included Mike Olt, CJ EdwardsJustin Grimm and at least one, but maybe two players to be named later. We already wrote about Mike Olt last night. Earlier today we covered CJ Edwards and now it's Justin Grimm.

Grimm is a 6-3, 200 pound right handed starting pitcher. He was drafted out of the University of Georgia in the 5th round of the 2010 draft. He was the 109th ranked prospect just prior to the 2010 draft and signed over slot for a 5th round pick. He'll turn 25 years on August 16th. Despite being the Friday starter for the Bulldogs and having impressive stuff, the results results weren't there.

Grimm has many of the ingredients scouts look for in a college pitcher. He has a pitcher's body at 6-foot-4, 193 pounds; he's quick-armed and athletic; he has big-conference experience and was Georgia's Friday starter this season; and he touches 95 mph regularly with his fastball. The bad news: Grimm had a career 5.80 ERA over nearly 180 innings, and some scouts consider him much the same pitcher after three years at Georgia as he was in 2007, when he was a 13th-round pick of the Red Sox out of high school in Virginia. Grimm has above-average fastball velocity at 90-94 mph, but the pitch lacks life and command thanks to poor mechanics. He rushes through his delivery, leaving his pitches up in the strike zone. He's vulnerable to home runs because he finishes too upright and doesn't drive the ball downhill. Scouts do consider the flaws to be correctable. He has a sharp curveball that at times grades out as an above-average pitch, but he wasn't ahead of hitters enough to use it as a strikeout pitch this spring. Grimm's changeup remains his third-best pitch. He competed well this season despite Georgia's disappointing year, even pitching in midweek in relief to sew up a victory against Georgia State, then pitching a career-best eight innings in his final start, beating Kentucky. He's still expected to go in the first four rounds despite his career 6-12 record.

His fastball averages 91.4 mph this year, but he can still get it up there in the 93 to 96 range. 

In the minor leagues, Grimm struckout 20.2% of the batters he faced over 280.1 innings. He walked only 6.9%. In 103 MLB innings, he's struckout 17.2% and walked 7.2%. Because of this, his ugly 6+ ERA is not exactly representative of the quality he's shown so far.

His FIP is a better 4.79, which is still 12% worse than league average. Over 13% of the fly balls he's allowed have left the yard. His xFIP is a 4.11, which is basically league average (102 xFIP-). SIERA tends to agree with the FIP/xFIP, but tERA does not. 

Grimm keeps the ball on the ground, but has given up a lot of line drives in his young career. 

His strikeout rate is more than acceptable and if his walk remains as good as it's been, Grimm is definitely a starting pitcher. He won't be a top of the rotation starter or anything, but he can provide real value to the Cubs. 

He'll be in AAA for a bit, but we should see him in a Cubs uniform no later than when rosters expand on September 1st. He has the potential to be a mid-rotation starter, but if that doesn't work out, he should put together a decent career in the bullpen. 

His strikeout and walk rates in the minor leagues are fairly similar to Travis Wood (22%, 9% vs 20%, 7%), but Grimm has more velocity. 

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  1. GW

    glad the Cubs didn’t end up signing him

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  2. Ryno

    His strikeout and walk rates in the minor leagues are fairly similar to Travis Wood

    …who is one of the best pitchers in baseball.

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  3. Norm MacDonald

    Rembember that Hayden Simpson, ya know? Ya know turns out he is gonna be in the Olympics now, ya know. Pretty crazy, isn’t it? Yeah, ya know he’s gonna be in the Special Olympics.

    /stares at you

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  4. Gilbert Gottfried

    @ Norm MacDonald:

    Hayden Simson walks into the bar. The bartender says, “We have a drink named after you.” Hayden Simpson says, “You have a drink named ‘Secret Fag’?”

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  5. Gilbert Gottfried

    Hayden Simson walks into the bar. He says to the bartender, “Give me an ass-hurt.” The bartender says, “How do you make an ass hurt?” Hayden Simpson says, “Well, dmick89 hands you a chocolate milk that he just made, and you wake up three hours later lying on your stomach.”

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  6. Mitch Hedberg

    I saw a story about Hayden Simpson on TV. He has chronic mono. He’s constantly tired and fatigued. That was sad. But then they said, “Hayden does not know the meaning of the word can’t.” And that was actually kind of worse, in a way. Not only is he always sick and tired, but he doesn’t understand simple contractions.

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  7. Chris Rock

    Hayden Simpson is the WORST white pitcher. The WORST WHITE PITCHER. Hayden Simpson is the WORST. WHITE. PITCHER. ON. THE. PLANET. ON THE PLANET. If Hayden Simpson was a rapper he’d be Kevin Federline.

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  8. Daniel Tosh

    People used to find me funny in college, but I’m the lowest common denominator in “edgy” humor.

    Also, Hayden Simpson sucks.

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  9. Anthony Jeselnik

    Hayden Simpson loves to walk batters. He told me that he had a walking batters addiction. So I took Hayden Simpson for a ride to a seedy part of town. I pointed out a crack addict and said “See, Hayden? He’s never had mono.”

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  10. Anthony Jeselnik

    Hayden Simpson owned a parakeet. That thing was annoying as hell, but the bird was cool.

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  11. Tim Wilken

    “I got to see a pitcher with a four-pitch mix that I thought were at least plus-average pitches to plus pitches, and he had a very good feel for pitching,” Wilken said. “I think you can see that by his record, albeit in Division II school. I saw a pitcher that a very good feel for pitching, very athletic, and I saw someone I thought could be a starter in the major leagues eventually.

    “This guy just made sense. They can say what they want to, the prognosticators. You say, ‘Hey, wait a minute, this is almost too good to be true.’ ”

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  12. Neil Hamburger

    Why won’t Hayden Simpson be enjoying cranberry sauce with his turkey this Thanksgiving? Because he’s going to be dead from mono.

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  13. Neil Hamburger

    What’s the worst thing about buying toilets off of Craigslist? Going to Hayden Simpson’s house.

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  14. Bob Saget

    Hayden Simpson had mono, huh? I heard one of the symptoms of mono is severe fatigue.

    So I guess my cock has mono after every time I visit your mother’s house.

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  15. Author
    dmick89

    Simpson threw just over 160 professional innings. I’m wondering how many 1st round draft picks who didn’t get injured played as little as this guy. The list can’t be long. This was a 1st round pick who found rookie league too challenging.

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  16. Author
    dmick89

    Carrie Muskat @CarrieMuskat 44m
    #Cubs Soriano says he talked to his agent re: rumors of possible deal. Not thinking yet about waiving no trade clause

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  17. Author
    dmick89

    Soriano declined at least one trade last year. Some reports had him declining two. He’s very specific and the Cubs front office should already know what he wants. They’ve had a year to talk to him. I’d expect it will be a bit smoother this year.

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  18. Bottleasmoke

    I feel guilty about kinda wanting any Soriano trade to fall through. I didn’t like the signing when it happened, but he’s been such an joy to watch. He’s been positive and professional in a way thay so few professional athletes could have been in his circumstances. I enjoy him on two levels- where he’s still fun to watch hit and that he makes many of the Cubs fans I dislike miserable. It’s petty compared to looking to the future, but there you have it.

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