Trent Grisham’s Recent Game-Winning Homer Is A Step In The Right Direction

Our MLBbro, Trent Grisham is the perfect representative of his team, the San Diego Padres, and how they stand when it comes to popularity and time spent in the baseball media news cycle. Even with a solid 30-24 record as of this writing, the accomplishment has been buried under their division rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team that has ruled the National League West for close to a decade, and the San Francisco Giants.  

When baseball fans think about the Padres, they think about superstars, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado who dominate the headlines with their offensive brilliance and sometimes mercurial personalities.

 

 

With these two franchise headline stealers, it’s hard to remember the 2019 trade that brought in Grisham, a Milwaukee Brewers’ 2015 first-round pick. Along with Zach Davies, there are still ongoing debates as to which team won the trade. It only took one month in the Brewers rotation for San Diego to see their future star when he hit six homers with 24 RBI to acquire him.  

Grisham gave himself and the Padres a much-needed reminder of why he was brought in with a two-run walk-off homer to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2 on Sunday. 

 

 

Our MLBbro shared his thoughts on what it’s like to be a hero via The San Diego Union Tribune.

“I just figured it was foul, the way it was hooking,” Grisham said. “Majority of the time those balls going down into the corner are foul, so I was just sitting there, waiting.”

“It was definitely cool to not even be able to hear hit foul pole, everybody going nuts beforehand. “That was special.” 

This homer right here will be one of the most talked about highlights of the season when all is said and done based on the situations surrounding this past weekend.

Manny Machado, who is currently the Padres biggest offensive weapon was not in the lineup for the first time this season suffering from lateral epicondylitis, which is the medical term for tennis elbow. Over the weekend, the Padres just suffered filling the shoes of the National League’s leader in hits, average and WAR.

A putrid Saturday offensive performance that included 16 stranded runners, two bases loaded opportunities with no runs and this three-run shot by another MLBbro, Ke’Bryan Hayes, added up to a bad loss to the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates.

 

Grisham’s theatrics in extra innings on Sunday possibly saved the Padres from going into a downward spiral down the NL West standings out of the reach of the Dodgers. For Grisham, it could be the start of a hot streak after a horrible start at the plate. He is batting .160 at the plate and was originally planning to lay down a bunt–a point that San Diego manager, Bob Melvin stated after the game via ESPN. 

“He has the ability to do that,” Melvin said. “Hopefully this is a springboard for him. I’d love to get him in the lineup doing what he normally does. That does a lot for your confidence when you’re in a big situation like that. Typically a bunt situation for him; he swings away and hits a homer.”

Our MLBbro’s slump has been well documented this season to the point that fellow MLBbro.com colleague, Rachel L. Hill in her “My Two Cents” segment foreshadowed Grisham being too good for this season-long slump to last.

 

For that slump to last, our MLBbro is going to have to become more aggressive at the plate. His selectiveness at the plate keeps him swinging at bad pitches but it in turn has allowed him to put the ball into play, something that Melvin thinks can be fixed.

“I think so… He’s just trying to find his way out of a rough start. And sometimes that can be difficult to do, and you search a little bit. You try to get more aggressive. Are teams coming after you for first pitch strikes? And sometimes you have to do things a little bit different. So yeah, I think at times, maybe (Grisham could be) a little more aggressive early in the count.”

It worked well enough over the weekend. Grisham could have been the hero on back-to-back nights with a seventh inning hit that put the Padres ahead before the blown lead in the ninth. While Grisham is not alone with his offensive struggles, maybe his game-saving home run is the spark that he needs.  

“It feels good, but I want to do more of it.” 

MLBbro.com believes he will do more of it.