John Grabow
| John Grabow | |||
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Grabow with the Chicago Cubs
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| Relief pitcher | |||
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Born: November 4, 1978 Arcadia, California |
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| MLB debut | |||
| September 14, 2003, for the Pittsburgh Pirates | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 20, 2011, for the Chicago Cubs | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 24–19 | ||
| Earned run average | 4.31 | ||
| Strikeouts | 400 | ||
| Teams | |||
John William Grabow, nicknamed "Grabes" (born November 4, 1978) is a retired Major League Baseball left-handed reliever. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs.
Through 2009, he held opposing batters to a .218 batting average and a .293 slugging percentage when there were runners in scoring position. He made 340 appearances between 2004–08, which ranks him fourth in the majors and first among left-handed relievers in the National League for that period.
Through 2011, in nine years in the majors he played in 506 games and had a 24–19 record, using a fastball, slider, and change up.
Grabow grew up in Arcadia, California, and was a Dodgers fan, playing first base. He was a pitcher at San Gabriel High School in California, and was named his league's most valuable player in his senior year in (1997). He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 3rd round of the 1997 amateur draft.
In 1998, Grabow was hit on the ear by a foul ball while sitting in the dugout and spent some time on the disabled list.
In 1999 Grabow led the Hickory Crawdads (A) in victories, starts, and innings pitched, and ranked third in the South Atlantic League in strikeouts with 164, in 156 innings.
Grabow matched the Altoona Curve record for career wins, with 24. Until 2003, he had pitched only 10 times in relief as a pro. That season Altoona manager Dale Sveum and pitching coach Jeff Andrews asked Grabow to make the switch, suggesting it might be a good career move. "I didn't know if it was a step backwards", Grabow said. But Grabow was then promoted to Class AAA Nashville in July, and pitched exclusively as a relief pitcher there before joining the Pirates for the final weeks of the year.
Through 2003, he averaged 7.6 strikeouts per 9 innings in the minor leagues, striking out 9.5 batters per 9 innings at the AAA level.
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