Justin Scott Grimm (born August 16, 1988) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

who is currently a free agent. He has previously played in MLB for the Texas Rangers,

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion ...

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

and

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...

Amateur career

Grimm attended Virginia High School in

Bristol, Virginia Bristol is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,219. It is the twin city of Bristol, Tennessee, just across the state line, which runs down the middle of its main street, State S ...

, where he played for the school's baseball team. He was projected as a third- or fourth-round pick out of high school in the

2007 Major League Baseball draft The 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players and was held on June 7, 2007 and June 8, 2007. The first day session of the draft included the fir ...

, but he fell to the 13th round where he was drafted by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. He fell in large part due to his commitment to the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. He opted against pro baseball, enrolling at the University of Georgia where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

from 2008 to 2010. In his freshman year he pitched 31 innings with a 10.91 ERA. His sophomore year was considerably better as he pitched 78 innings with a 4.15 ERA. In his third and final year at Georgia, he posted a 5.49 ERA in 77 innings. In 2008, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

in the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

for the

Bourne Braves The Bourne Braves are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Bourne, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Braves play their home games at Doran Park on the ca ...

, and returned to the league in 2009 with the

Cotuit Kettleers The Cotuit Kettleers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in the village of Cotuit, Massachusetts, which is in the southwest corner of the town of Barnstable. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the lea ...

Professional career

Texas Rangers

Grimm was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the fifth round of the

2010 Major League Baseball draft The 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held on June 7–9, 2010 at the MLB Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. First-round selections The draft order was determined based on the 2009 MLB standings, with the worst team pi ...

out of the University of Georgia. Grimm made his MLB debut on June 16, 2012, against the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after s ...

. He won his debut, pitching six innings, striking out seven, walking none, and throwing 88 pitches for 56 strikes. Grimm was the first pitcher to have seven strikeouts and no walks in a debut since

Stephen Strasburg Stephen James Strasburg (; born July 20, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Strasburg was selected by Washington with the first overall pick in the 2009 Major League ...

's debut on June 8, 2010. On May 2, 2013, Grimm was named American League Rookie of the Month for April. During April, Grimm held a 2–0 record with a 1.59 ERA in 3 starts, striking out 15 and holding opponents to a .239 batting average in 17.0 innings. In the first half of the 2013 season, Grimm went into the All-Star Break with a 7–7 record and a 6.37 ERA. His final three Rangers appearances saw him go 0-2 and pitch 11.1 innings, giving up 23 hits, 6 walks, and 15 runs.

Chicago Cubs

The Rangers traded Grimm to the

on July 22, 2013, with

Mike Olt Michael George Olt (born August 27, 1988) is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, and Chicago White Sox. He played college baseball at the Universit ...

, C. J. Edwards, and

Neil Ramirez Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. ...

, in exchange for Matt Garza. He was optioned to the Triple-A

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. The Cubs play their h ...

on July 23 and lost his first start for Iowa, giving up 7 earned runs in two innings including six straight hits to start the second inning. When major league rosters expanded in September, Grimm was recalled to the Cubs. Grimm finished the season in the Cubs' bullpen, working 9 innings and posting a 2.00 ERA. Going into 2014 spring training, it was announced that Grimm would move to the Cubs' bullpen due to the considerable depth within the Cubs' starting rotation. At the end of spring training, Grimm made the Cubs' opening-day roster as a relief pitcher. On August 29, 2014, Grimm became the 68th pitcher in Major League history to strike out four batters in a single inning. Grimm finished the 2014 season with a 5–2 record, a 3.78 ERA and 70 strikeouts over 69 innings pitched, working primarily as a middle reliever. The following season he had a career low ERA of 1.99 in 62 games. In 2016, he worked 68 games with a 4.10 ERA in . He helped the Cubs to their first World Series championship since 1908 by pitching in three of the seven games. In his final season with the team in 2017, he had a 5.53 ERA in 50 games. On March 15, 2018, the Cubs announced that Grimm was released from the organization.

Kansas City Royals

Grimm was signed to a one-year deal with the

on March 18, 2018. He was placed on the disabled list on June 27 with a back injury, his second stint on the disabled list in the first half of the season. On July 7, The Royals requested release waivers on Grimm.

Seattle Mariners

On July 19, 2018, Grimm signed a minor league deal with the

. He was promoted to the major leagues when rosters expanded on September 1, 2018.

Cleveland Indians

Grimm signed a minor league contract with the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

on January 3, 2019. The deal included an invitation to the Indians' 2019 major league spring training camp. Grimm opted out of his contract on March 22, 2019 after being informed he would not make the opening day major league roster.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On March 24, 2019, Grimm signed a minor-league deal with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...

Cincinnati Reds

On July 17, 2019, Grimm was traded to the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

. He became a free agent following the 2019 season.

Milwaukee Brewers

On December 4, 2019, Grimm signed a minor league contract with the

. Grimm made the Opening Day roster for the Brewers in 2020. On August 28, 2020, he was designated for assignment. He was released on August 31.

Seattle Mariners (second stint)

On April 5, 2021, Grimm signed with the Mariachis de Guadalajara of the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

. However on May 7, before the Mexican League season began, Grimm signed a minor league contract with the

organization. Grimm spent the 2021 season with the Triple-A

Tacoma Rainiers The Tacoma Rainiers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Tacoma, Washington, and play their home games at Cheney Stadium, which opened in 1960 ...

. He made 45 appearances, going 3–1 with a 4.37 ERA and 72 strikeouts. Grimm became a free agent following the season.

Oakland Athletics

On December 28, 2021, Grimm signed a minor league contract with the

. On April 7, 2022, Grimm's contract was selected by the A's and he was added to their opening day roster. He was designated for assignment on May 28, 2022 and was released on May 31.

Personal life

Grimm married longtime girlfriend Gina Nuccio, a former All-American gymnast at the

, on January 30, 2016. Their son Austin was born in 2018.

References

External links

Georgia Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grimm, Justin 1988 births Living people People from Bristol, Virginia Baseball players from Virginia Major League Baseball pitchers Texas Rangers players Chicago Cubs players Kansas City Royals players Seattle Mariners players Milwaukee Brewers players Oakland Athletics players Georgia Bulldogs baseball players Bourne Braves players Cotuit Kettleers players Hickory Crawdads players Myrtle Beach Pelicans players Frisco RoughRiders players Round Rock Express players Iowa Cubs players Everett AquaSox players Tacoma Rainiers players Oklahoma City Dodgers players Louisville Bats players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Tigres del Licey players