WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Three years after he last pitched in a Major League game, the first batter southpaw Foster Griffin faced since Sept. 22, 2022, was former National League MVP Ronald Acuña Jr.
A star-studded Team Venezuela lineup followed.
Griffin, who signed with the Nationals in December, made his debut on Wednesday night in a World Baseball Classic exhibition game. He is back in a big league rotation following a three-year career resurgence in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.
“It’s funny,” Griffin, 30, reflected. “My first outing in Japan when I signed over there was against Team Cuba in Spring Training. I was like, ‘Of course, I'm facing another WBC team when I come back here.’
“But it’s a good test for me. I kind of looked at it as, ‘OK, let’s see what I’ve got.’ They’ve got some All-Stars in there, some really good players. I wanted to see how my stuff played, and tonight was pretty good.”
Griffin had studied the Team Venezuela roster and believed he could have success with his cutter. He delivered it on the first pitch; Acuña fouled it off. Griffin fell into a 3-1 hole on the next three pitches. But after Acuña fouled off the next pitch high in the zone, Griffin nearly replicated the location on the next one. The result: a swing and a miss for strike three. Another cutter.
“That was a pitch that I got relatively late when I was here before I went over to Japan,” Griffin said. “I knew it was my bread and butter, so I wanted to see how it played.”
Griffin went on to deliver two scoreless innings, locating 15 of his 29 pitches for strikes. He allowed two hits (a Luis Arraez single and a Willson Contreras double), one walk (to Wilyer Abreu) and collected one strikeout (Acuña).
“He was awesome,” manager Blake Butera said. “That was great to see him on the mound. Just so calm. He has that presence that he’s confident and has been there and can slow things down, that you like when he’s out there because you trust what he’s going to be able to do and knows what he’s doing.”
Griffin made seven big league appearances as a reliever for the Royals and Blue Jays in 2020 and '22, then he established himself in Japan. From 2022-25, he went 18-10 with a 2.57 ERA in 54 games and 315 2/3 innings.
Last season, Griffin was named an NPB Central League All-Star with a 6-1 record, 1.52 ERA and only one homer allowed in 89 innings.
“I feel like everyone is like, ‘How’s he going to do in the U.S. facing Major League hitters coming over from Japan?’” Butera said. “At the end of the day, Foster's a really good pitcher. Foster works his tail off, and he knows what it takes to compete and have success over here.”
The next step for Griffin will be to make his next turn in the rotation and build up to three innings. He is expected to be a veteran presence on the Nationals’ Opening Day roster at the end of the month.
“I tried not to make it too big of a moment,” Griffin said. “I just tried to go out there and get my work in. It is Spring Training.
“But maybe later, I’ll look back at it and be like, OK, we’re back. It’s pretty cool. I’m glad to be back.’”