JOHN GRABOW

11/4/78; '97 3rd; San Gabriel, CA (HS)
L/L; 6-2, 190

Level
W-L-Sv
G
GS
IP
H
 HR
BB
K
 BB/9 K/9 WHIP OAVG
ERA
1997 R
2-7-0
11
8
45.1
57
 0
14
28
 2.78 5.56 1.57 .305
4.57
1998 A
6-3-0
17
16
71.2
84
 7
34
67
 4.27 8.41 1.65 .294
5.78
1999 A
9-10-0
26
26
156.1
152
 16
32
164
 1.84 9.44 1.18 .249
3.80
2000 AA
8-7-0
24
24
145.1
145
 10
65
109
 4.03 6.75 1.44 .259
4.33
2001 AA
2-5-0
10
10
50.2
30
 1
39
42
 6.93 7.46 1.36 .175
3.38
2001 A+
1-3-0
7
7
36.2
42
 3
26
35
 6.38 8.59 1.85 .294
6.38
2001 R
0-1-0
6
6
12.0
11
 1
4
9
 3.00 6.75 1.25 .244
3.75
2002 AA
8-13-0
28
27
146.1
181
 10
47
97
 2.89 5.97 1.56 .308
5.47
2003 NL
0-0-0
5
0
5.0
6
 0
0
9
 0.00 16.20 1.20 .273
3.60
2003 AAA
0-2-0
17
0
24.2
31
 0
7
26
 2.55 9.49 1.54 .298
4.24
2003 AA
6-1-1
24
9
83.0
87
 9
19
73
 2.06 7.92 1.28 .281
3.36
2004 NL
2-5-1
68
0
61.2
81
 8
28
64
 4.09 9.34 1.77 .323
5.11
2005 NL
2-3-0
63
0
52.0
46
 6
25
42
 4.33
7.27
1.37
.238
4.85
2006 NL
4-2-0
72
0
69.2
68
 7
30
66
 3.88
8.53
1.41
.260
4.13
2007 NL
3-2-1
63
0
51.2
56
 6
19
42
 3.31
7.32
1.45
.277
4.53
2007 AAA
0-0-0
4
0
4.0
4
 1
2
4
 4.50
9.00
1.50
.286
2.25
2008 NL
6-3-4
74
0
76.0
60
9
37
62
4.38
7.34
1.28
.215
2.84

Grabow survived injuries, control problems and removal from the roster to reach the majors in 2004, and now is considered a mainstay in the team's bullpen. Following a strong season at Hickory in 1999, he jumped to AA, where he had a fair 2000 season, after which he was placed on the 40-man roster. He got hurt in 2001, then suffered from severe control problems when he got back. He was still struggling in 2002, although he started pitching better late in the year, but the Pirates removed him from the 40-man roster. He was not claimed off waivers. He continued to struggle as a starter in 2003 until John Van Benschoten was promoted to Altoona. At that point, Grabow moved to the bullpen and made the transition very well-his high hit total was the result of the time he spent in the rotation. The Pirates promoted him to AAA late in the season and he struggled there, but still had a high K rate. The team must have liked what they saw, because after the AAA playoffs they added Grabow to the 40-man roster once again and called him up. He got hit hard in his first game but pitched very well in four appearances after that.

Grabow went into 2004 considered a long shot to make the team, but Mark Guthrie and Joe Beimel both had awful springs and Grabow pitched well, so he made the cut. Not surprisingly for a guy largely skipping AAA, he struggled quite a bit. After pitching well in April, he allowed a very large number of baserunners, the result of both too many walks and a .323 opponents' BA. His potential was evident, however, from the fact that he still fanned over a batter an inning. Grabow has a good arm-he throws in the low 90s, with an excellent change that makes him more effective against RH batters than some lefties.

In 2005, Grabow had a very good first half, posting a 3.04 ERA before the All-Star break. Afterward, his ERA was 6.35. The difference was gopher balls: he allowed none before and six after. He may have grown tired, as he especially had problems in late September after a period of being used very heavily starting in mid-August. Much of this had to do with the collapse of the starting pitchers around that time, but some also had to do with interim manager Pete Mackanin's penchant for frantically changing relievers. At one point, Grabow appeared in 11 of 17 games. Possibly as a result, he allowed 8 ER in his final 2.2 IP of the season. He was effective throughout the year, however, in keeping inherited runners from scoring. In fact, he tied for the best record in the majors, allowing only 4 of 37 inherited runners to cross the plate. His K rate did drop from 2004, but it remained good and he cut his opponents' BA from .323 to .238. He also was a little more effective against RH batters than LH, holding the former to a .696 OPS as compared to .724 against lefties.

In 2006, Grabow had a lower ERA but didn't pitch quite as well overall. Like the rest of the staff, he struggled early in the year, but he had a very strong stretch in July and August, fanning 36 in just 32.1 IP and posting a 3.06 ERA. As before, when he struggled it was generally gopher balls; six of the seven he allowed came in the first half. He still didn't show a platoon split, pitching just slightly better against LH hitters.

Grabow opened 2007 on the DL with a sore elbow, the result of bone chips. After he joined the team he struggled, posting a 6.57 ERA in May. Eventually he settled down and had a very strong stretch from mid-July through early September, allowing just one run in 21 appearances. He struggled after that, however, allowing 13 hits, four walks and nine runs in his last 5.1 IP. For the year he had a significant platoon split, allowing an OPS of .828, including five of his six HRs, to RH batters and .604 to LH batters. He had a big problem holding baserunners on, as they stole ten bases against him in ten tries.

Grabow decided after the 2007 season not to have surgery to remove the bone chips. That decision meant he wouldn't miss a chunk of time, but it also means he'll continually be at risk of the problem recurring. He managed to stay healthy throughout 2008, however, and had his best season, with career lows in ERA, WHIP, opponents' slugging and opponents' on base average, mostly by large margins. He didn't allow a run until his 14th outing and had ERAs below 3.00, mostly far below, in every month except for a very bad June in which his ERA was 8.31. When he had problems it was almost always control or the longball, or both. Given the disastrous state of the Pirates' bullpen, manager John Russell leaned on Grabow more and more heavily, as there were times when he was the only effective reliever due to Matt Capps being injured and Damaso Marte traded. Grabow even spent part of August as the closer. Russell at times would even bring Grabow in to replace RH relievers with RH hitters at the plate. He didn't have a platoon split apart from the fact that eight of his nine HRs allowed were hit by RH batters. It's long been rumored that Grabow will likely be traded, but it hasn't happened yet. It doesn't necessarily make sense for the Pirates to look to trade him, as a reliever just won't bring the type of prospects they need, as they learned with Salomon Torres. The risk of elbow problems also limits his value. Then there's the small matter of him being one of only two relievers on the team who can be counted on to get anybody out.

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