One day during his first season in Japan, Foster Griffin was approached by Yomiuri Giants coach Zelous Wheeler and relayed a message. “If you ever come to Japan and think that you’re just going to dominate, and then you’re just going to go back to MLB,” Wheeler said, “it’s never going to happen.”
The message resonated with Griffin. That meant immersing himself in Japanese culture. It meant trying unusual foods such as chicken sashimi and horse sashimi or having fermented soybeans for breakfast. “It was a grind,” Griffin said. But it also meant getting back to being a starting pitcher, learning to tinker an already expansive arsenal, and working to get back to Major League Baseball.
In three seasons in Japan, Griffin posted a 2.51 ERA in 348 innings while posting a 351/78 strikeout-to-walk ratio. In his last season, he posted a 1.52 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 89 innings with the Yomiuri Giants.
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Foster Griffin opens up about his NPB journey and what comes next
Griffin, 30, spoke with FanSided about his experience in Japan, how he grew as a pitcher in three seasons overseas and what he expects coming back to MLB. Griffin, a free agent, is allowed to have conversations with teams as of Monday.
What’s the biggest difference from when you went overseas three years ago compared to now?
That’s a loaded question. The biggest thing was I learned how to be a starter. I was a starter all throughout my career, and then I switched to the bullpen in 2022 after Tommy John. But I learned how to get through a lineup multiple times. I don’t think I really knew how to do that early in my career. I think there was a combination of things. I added pitches because I felt like I needed more pitches in my arsenal to get through the lineup multiple times. The other part is that I figured out how to use scouting reports. I would look at a scouting report and no one really taught me how to analyze that data or how that data works for me and how I should use it.
When I get there in 2023, I’m new to these hitters so they had never seen me before. I got away with being good with what I had when I came over. There’s only six teams in the division so you’re only facing five other teams all the time … So late into the second half of my first year, I noticed that I’m getting hit more, and I’m not getting swing and miss because guys are seeing me more. That’s when it popped into my head that I had to somehow adapt.
That’s when I first added the splitter midway through 2023. The main reason was the left-handers. I was a cutter, curveball, changeup, four-seam guy. Everything from a left-handers perspective of me throwing, everything is moving away. The four-seam has some run, but my cutter is going away, and my curveball is going away, and I didn’t throw changeups to lefties … So I didn’t trust my changeup enough to get swing and miss to lefties, so that’s why I added the splitter so that added something that tumbled straight down and added something more to my arsenal. Started getting swing-and-miss right away. Around the same time, I added a two-seamer to really — and I was never really trying to throw it for a strike — I just wanted to get these lefties to open up something inside to respect everything else that I can get them out away with.
Then in my next two years, I added a sweeper as well, and that was really beneficial against lefties. I was able to really command it to righties, so I was able to expand the plate on the other side to right-handers to have them look out there as well as inside with my other stuff. Long-winded answer, but that’s really what changed. I’m not close to the same pitcher that I was when I left because of experience and what I added to my arsenal.
So you throw seven pitches?
Yeah. My two-seamer isn’t my best pitch, but it’s not a sinker. It’s not a ground ball pitch. I don’t throw it to right-handers because analytically it’s not great, but it’s something that runs more and gets lefties having to respect something inside. Since I throw so many cutters, my four-seamer is more straight with a hint of cut. If I were to throw that to a lefty, I’d really have to dot it inside for them to be able to respect the inside corner. So now this two-seamer has more run and I can get away with something running more running in than have to
Who helped you throughout this? Pitching coaches? Teammates?
A little bit. It was more just watching how much swing and miss these guys got on their splitters and fork balls. They have small hands and most guys think with splitters you need big, wide hands and long fingers. These guys got tiny hands, and they’re getting all kinds of swing and miss on these splitters. So I just started watching them in catch play and bullpens and in-game. I’m looking at in-game footage and how the camera would be behind them and the camera would do slow motion on swing and miss. I’d pause the video at the release, and I’d tinker with different splitter grips. I tried one in a bullpen that had negative vert a few different times, and I was like, ‘Okay, this one might be it.’ I put it in a game and I really just tried it against left-handed hitters. I’ve never had that weapon against a lefty for swing and miss because I never trusted my changeup to lefties. The speed difference, as well as the tumble, was helpful.
I’ve gotten to the point where I can command it within a sense for it to be at the bottom or below the bottom of the zone. I feel like I have enough weapons within my other six pitches to get ahead and get to strike two or one. Then I feel like I can go to the splitter if a guy is not trying to let me get to two strikes and ambush me, and I’m thinking he’s going to be swinging. That’s when I’ll go to the splitter or obviously as a put-away pitch.
What’s this journey like now that you’re coming back to the majors?
One of our coaches, Zelous Wheeler, who was in the majors for eight seasons, told me something really good my first year in Japan. He said, “If you ever come to Japan and think that you’re just going to dominate, and then you’re just going to go back to MLB, it’s never going to happen.” I took it to heart. I’m just going to do my due diligence here, I’m going to grind it out, and if this is where my career ends up, then that’s where my career ends up. I took it to heart, put my nose down and tried to perform and let the rest take care of itself. I tried not to put too much in front of me that I wasn’t able to control ... and see where it took me, and now we’ll see where the next little bit takes us.
What are you looking for in the majors?
I was a starter in Japan for the last three years, so I feel like I’ve established myself over there as one. I’d like to be one here. We’ll have to see what transpires in the next little while to see what teams are after. I know starting pitching is kind of a need in the big leagues, and left-handed starting pitching as well. If it is to happen, I’m eager to see the difference in where I left to what it is now, ya know?