Fred Foster Griffin (born July 27, 1995) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They h ...

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB). He has previously played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) with the

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) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

Career

Kansas City Royals

Griffin attended

The First Academy The First Academy (TFA), is a private Christian school established in 1987 in Orlando, Florida. The school serves over 1,250 students from preschool to twelfth grade. Academics The First Academy is an Orlando-based private Christian school fo ...

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

. The

selected him in the first round of the

2014 Major League Baseball draft The 2014 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June 6, and the last 30 round ...

. He signed on June 10, and was assigned to the

Burlington Royals The Burlington Royals were a minor league baseball team in Burlington, North Carolina, United States. They were a Rookie-level team in the Appalachian League. The team was affiliated with the Cleveland Indians from 1986 to 2006 as the Burlington ...

, where he posted a 3.21 ERA in 28

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

. Griffin spent 2015 with the

Lexington Legends The Lexington Legends are an American professional baseball team based in Lexington, Kentucky. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league" of Major League Baseball. The Legends have ...

where he went 4–6 with a 5.44 ERA. In 2016, Griffin split time between Lexington and the

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. Fra ...

, where he posted a combined 6–4 record and a 5.43 ERA between the two teams. He spent 2017 with both the

and the

Northwest Arkansas Naturals The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springdale, Arkansas, Springdale, Arkansas. The team is a member of the Texas League, and serves as the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. T ...

where he went a combined 15–7 with a 3.35 ERA between both clubs, and 2018 back with the Naturals where he pitched to a 10–12 record with a 5.13 ERA in 28 games (26 starts). He spent 2019 with the

Omaha Storm Chasers The Omaha Storm Chasers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. They are located in Papillion, Nebraska, a suburb southwest of Omaha, Nebraska, Omah ...

, going 8–6 with a 5.23 ERA over 25 starts, striking out 111 over innings. Griffin was added to the Royals 40-man roster following the 2019 season. Griffin made his major league debut on July 27, 2020, and pitched scoreless innings to earn the win against the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. On August 11, 2020, Griffin underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

. On November 30, 2020, Griffin was designated for assignment. On December 2, 2020, the Royals nontendered Griffin, making him a free agent. On December 12, 2020, Griffin re-signed with the Royals on a minor league contract. He made 15 rehab appearances with numerous Royals minor league affiliates in 2021. He began the 2022 season with the Triple-A

. On May 20, 2022, Griffin had his contract selected by the Royals. He was designated for assignment on July 11.

Toronto Blue Jays

On July 16, 2022, Griffin traded to the

in exchange for Jonatan Bernal. Griffin only made one appearances for Toronto, tossing two scoreless innings with two strikeouts. The rest of his time was spent with the Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

, where he pitched to a pristine 1.93 ERA and 4-0 record with 32 strikeouts in 28.0 innings pitched. He was released on November 15.

Yomiuri Giants

On January 12, 2023, Griffin signed with the

. On May 13, Griffin hit a triple off of

Masato Morishita is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Early baseball career He started playing little league baseball in 3rd grade for Meijikita Elementary School. He continued to play ...

of the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Matsuda ...

. In doing so, he became the first Yomiuri non-Japanese pitcher to hit a triple since Toru Nishida did so in 1952. He re-signed a one-year contract extension for the 2024 season on November 26. https://twitter.com/GaijinBaseball/status/1728868632636309858

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, Foster 1995 births Living people Baseball players from Orlando, Florida Major League Baseball pitchers Kansas City Royals players Toronto Blue Jays players Burlington Royals players Lexington Legends players Wilmington Blue Rocks players Northwest Arkansas Naturals players Omaha Storm Chasers players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Tigres del Licey players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic category:Yomiuri Giants players Arizona Complex League Royals players