At 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, Andre Granillo fits the classic mold of a baseball closer. The Springfield Cardinals’ relief pitcher has a fearless demeanor to match his size.
Granillo throws a fastball clocking in the mid-90s, but his slider is considered his best weapon when trying to close out games.
“His slider is a swing-and-miss pitch that we project to be a big-league pitch,” Springfield manager Jose Leger said.
The big right-hander closed out Springfield’s 10-7 victory over Frisco on Tuesday, June 20, by retiring all three batters he faced, striking out two. Granillo’s fifth save secured a successful start to a 12-game road trip, as the Cardinals will not return to Hammons Field until July 4th.
Hunting down strikeouts
No matter the time of the year, Granillo’s mission is to create fireworks when he goes to the mound with the determination to strike out opposing hitters. Pitch to contact? Nope. Not this guy.
Granillo has 46 strikeouts in 34 ⅓ innings this season, a big reason he’s settled into the back end of the bullpen and has risen to the Cardinals’ No. 26 prospect according to MLB.com.
“I’m not gonna lie, I do go out there and try to get strikeouts,” Granillo said during the team’s recent homestand. “But it’s more of, ‘I don’t want him to hit my stuff.’ In my head, my best stuff is better than this batter is right now.
“When I’m going out there in the eighth and ninth, I’m saying, ‘I’m the best pitcher on the planet, right here, right now, on this mound.’ So when I think, ‘I want to strike this guy out,’ I want to throw my best pitch at this time instead of just, ‘OK, let me nitpick at the corners.’ That’s when I get in trouble, when I nitpick and start walking people.”
Embracing the bullpen role
Granillo, 23, is 2-3 during his first full Double-A season, with five saves and a 4.46 earned run average. The ERA is inflated because he allowed six earned runs in one-third of an inning back on April 25. Since then, he’s struck out 31 and walked seven with a 1.42 ERA.
Unlike many pitching prospects who are reluctant to accept a bullpen role, Granillo embraces it. He’s closed games since high school, including at UC Riverside prior to being drafted by the Cardinals in the 14th round of the 2021 Major League Baseball draft.
“It’s kind of nice when you’re in the bullpen and everybody’s like, ‘That’s our guy.’ It’s cool being in a close game and being the guy they want to bring in,” Granillo said. “As a starter, you pitch once a week and if you do bad, you have to sit on it for a week.
“I gave up six runs in that (April) appearance and I’m in there two days later and I go two scoreless. I love being the back end of the bullpen and for me, to further my career and have a big-league career, the back end of the bullpen is the best road for me.”
Learning from a former professional closer
Granillo said he had the perfect college coach to groom him for a professional relief-pitching career. Troy Percival, UC Riverside coach from 2014-20, had a 14-year big-league career and racked up 358 saves, 13th most in MLB history.
Granillo said he stays in contact with Percival and talks about relief pitching, especially the mental aspect.
“He used to say why Mariano Rivera was so good, besides the cutter, is that Mariano was so stone cold,” Granillo said. “Nobody knew when they got to him. No one knew if he was mad, sad, upset, happy. He was tunnel-visioned, a stone-cold killer.
“Percival used to tell me, ‘Don’t let the other team know they got to you, even if you just gave up three, four, five, six.’ It was easy to pick his brain, ask him, ‘What was your approach, what was your routine, how did you approach off days, lifting?’
“He still calls me every so often and his son and I are very good friends. Just having a coach like Troy and having the knowledge of one of the best closers of all time is great.”
Granillo throwing some of the nastiest sliders he’s ever thrown
When Granillo and his college coach talk these days, there’s plenty of good to discuss. After pitching at three levels in 2022 and finishing with eight saves, Granillo feels he’s never thrown the ball better than the current stretch.
“Right now it has been some of the best stuff I’ve had in my career,” he said. “My body feels great. The training staff is working really hard to keep us in shape throughout this long season. We’re about halfway through and my body feels great.
“This is some of the hardest I’ve ever thrown and some of the nastiest sliders I’ve ever thrown. It’s just great to be out there and competing.”
Leger said Granillo fits the mold of a big-league closer with his size and stuff and is on a good path, but there’s still work to do before St. Louis beckons.
“That’s part of it. The other one you want is the mound presence and the determination and that killer instinct,” Leger said. “He has a little bit of that in him. It’s a work in progress. He’s done well and has turned things around from the start of the season.”
Fireworks at Hammons Field on the Fourth of July
Springfield plays at Frisco through Sunday, June 25, and is in Little Rock to face the Arkansas Travelers next week. The July 4th game, marking the return to Hammons Field, will start at 5:35 p.m. and feature post-game fireworks.
