Milwaukee Brewers: Justin Grimm Makes Opening Day Roster

Leading up to the 2020 season the Brewers signed a bunch of players who are all aiming to have bounce back seasons.  One of those players was Justin Grimm.

Justin Grimm was one of several non-roster invitees brought in by the Brewers this year as they attempted to fill plenty of open spots created by the offseason’s roster turnover. Even in the bullpen, there were a few spots up for grabs.

Grimm has played spectacularly so far throughout Spring Training and Summer Camp. On Sunday, it was announced that the non-roster invitee had made the Brewers opening day roster, an honor he rightfully deserves!

In case you are not too familiar with Justin Grimm he is a 31 year old with multiple years of MLB experience. He has pitched for the Rangers, Cubs, Royals, and Mariners. His most successful season was for the Cubs in 2015 when he struck out 67 batters in 49.2 innings with a 1.99 ERA that season.

Despite not pitching at the major league level in 2019, Grimm has seven years of MLB experience with 356 career innings pitched. Originally a starter for the Rangers in 2012 and 2013, Grimm found most of his MLB success as a Chicago Cub when he made the transition into the bullpen.

Grimm is primarily a fastball/curveball pitcher whose velocity sits in the low to mid 90’s and curveball in the low 80’s. Many Brewers have been a victim of his huge curveball during the Blue-Gold World Series and it’s one reason why he has earned a spot on the Opening Day roster.

On 7/16/20 during game three of the Blue-Gold World Series, Justin Grimm pitched one inning, walked one batter, and struck out the side! In game five of the Blue-Gold World Series, after it had been announced that he made the team, Grimm recorded four outs with three of them coming via the strikeout.  His last strikeout victim during game five was superstar Christian Yelich.

While it is evident that the pitching is ahead of the offense at this point in summer camp, it is important to remember that Grimm was pitching this well during Spring Training too. He looks very confident right now and his curveball has a ton of movement to it that will likely cause opposing hitters problems once the regular season begins.

We projected 16 pitchers on the Brewers 30-man Opening Day roster and Counsell stated that he will likely carry 16-17. After the first two weeks of the season, though, the active roster will decrease to 28. While it is great that Grimm has made the opening day roster, from the outside looking in it appears as if he may be on the bubble again when roster sizes decrease.

The rest of the 30-man roster should be announced within the next day or two. At that point we will see who joins Grimm as the Brewers play his former employers in the Chicago Cubs on Opening Day.