About Jason Grilli
Jason Michael Grilli (born November 11, 1976) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, Colorado Rockies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Atlanta Braves, Toronto Blue Jays, and Texas Rangers. Taken as the fourth overall selection of the 1997 MLB draft by the San Francisco Giants, Grilli was one of the top starting pitcher prospects in all of Minor League Baseball, ranked 54th in 1998 and 44th in 1999. The Giants traded him to the Florida Marlins in 1999, for whom he debuted on May 11, 2000. In 2011, Grilli's career took off as a relief pitcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates. That year, he carried a 2.48 earned run average (ERA) and 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings (K/9) rate in 32 innings pitched (IP), and further improved in 2012, when his strikeout rate climbed to 13.8. In 2013, Grilli made his first All-Star team and became Pittsburgh's closer at the age of 36. From 2011 to 2014, he compiled a 3.09 ERA with 11.9 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and a 34.2 percent ground-ball rate in 195+1⁄3 IP. In his junior year, Grilli struck out 18 batters in a game to break Charles Nagy's Big East Conference record. The San Francisco Giants selected Grilli in the first round, fourth overall, of the 1997 Major League Baseball draft. He pitched to a 6–4 win–loss record and a 4.65 earned run average (ERA) with 125 strikeouts in 81+1⁄3 innings pitched.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.