{"id":140339,"date":"2026-05-26T23:09:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T02:09:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/yankees-at-bat-of-the-week-trent-grisham-5-24\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T23:09:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T02:09:56","slug":"yankees-at-bat-of-the-week-trent-grisham-5-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/en\/yankees-at-bat-of-the-week-trent-grisham-5-24\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees At-Bat* of the Week: Trent Grisham (5\/24)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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While the Yankees offense has turned things around just enough to get back to winning ways on Sunday and Monday, there hasn\u2019t 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\u2019s walk-off home run over the Rays<\/a>, but that moment does not happen if not for the hard work of Trent Grisham batting before him in that frame.<\/p>\n

We join Grisham with the game still scoreless heading to the bottom of the ninth. Ryan Weathers<\/a> pitched brilliantly to give them seven scoreless, now it was the offense\u2019s turn to uphold their end of the bargain. Grisham was one of the few Yankees hitters who had success against Rays starter Drew Rasmussen<\/a> with singles in the third and sixth. Now, he\u2019s tasked with getting on base for Judge and Ben Rice<\/a> behind him.<\/p>\n

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Both of Grisham\u2019s singles came on fastballs on the outer half, so it is no surprise to see Rays reliever Kevin Kelly<\/a> try to bust him inside with a first-pitch sinker. Kelly is sort of like the right-handed Tim Hill<\/a>, the vast majority of his pitches being sinkers thrown from a sidearm delivery that makes it difficult to track the baseball.<\/p>\n

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This is an excellent first pitch sinker from Kelly. He starts it at Grisham\u2019s front hip causing him to give up on the pitch almost immediately, only for the sinker\u2019s 21 inches of arm-side run to carry it across the corner up and in for the called strike one.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

Just like that, Grisham finds himself in the hole, 0-2. He hasn\u2019t done a whole lot wrong in the AB, he\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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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\u2019s eye level up, which should allow him to go back to the off-speed below the zone.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Kelly returns to the changeup hoping for a similar execution and result as the first one he threw.<\/p>\n

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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\u2019s box, yet somehow Grisham doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

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Kelly\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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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\u2019s like Grisham is instantly able to eliminate any pitch that starts away, which tells me he has done his homework against Kelly. Kelly\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Grisham has done well to grind back from 0-2 to a full count. He\u2019s just one more good take away from getting on as the leadoff man ahead of Judge.<\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the full PA:<\/p>\n

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