John From Albany - Catching up with Ex-Met Minor Leaguer Ben Griset

Back in March 2017 we interviewed Mets Minor League Pitcher Ben Griset.  No longer in the Mets system, we catch up with Ben to see what he has been up to and get some reflections on his time with the Mets.

Mack's Mets: Hi Ben.  Thanks for agreeing to the interview. 

Ben: Thank you for reaching out. Happy to share my thoughts for what it’s worth. 

Mack's Mets: What have you been up to lately? 

Ben: I decided to retire from baseball last year and have taken a sales role working for a company called Udemy. It has been a big transition but I have been enjoying the next chapter in my life. I recently moved to Denver, got married, bought my first home, and just adopted two crazy puppies. I miss baseball every day, but I can’t complain. 

Mack's Mets: How are you surviving COVID? Is everyone in your family healthy and safe?

Ben:  Luckily I have been able to work from home so things have been fairly normal for me. My wife works at the children’s hospital and has been exposed to sick patients, but fortunately everyone in my family has remained safe and healthy.  

Mack's Mets (Reese Kaplan): Would you play on some team's 30 man taxi squad given the Pandemic?

Ben:  I would for sure play. I understand superstars wanting to sit out if they have children at home, but other than that, I don’t know how anyone could pass on the opportunity to play in the big leagues. Even if there are no fans, it’s still an honor to put on a big league uniform. 

Mack's Mets: What are your plans for the future?

Ben: I’m just taking things one day at a time. I’m enjoying living near the mountains and spending my weekends exploring Colorado. Maybe we’ll try to have children in a year or two. Other than that there’s no set plans in the near future. 

Mack's Mets: You started out with the Rays organization, then moved to the Mets.  What can you tell us about how the teams developed players – what worked well in each system.  Any key differences?  Was there anything in particular that really helped a young player develop in the Mets system or the Rays system?

Ben: I am grateful the Rays drafted me and gave me an opportunity to play professional baseball. As far as development goes, there wasn’t much of that going on. Their philosophy was draft/sign as many players as possible and see if they can find a superstar in the mix. If they did not see superstar talent, that player was quickly removed. That system is cutthroat, but it works. They have found many talented players that way and I was lucky enough to play with a few. 

As to why the Rays adopted this philosophy, I am not sure. Was this because they are a smaller budget team and can’t afford to invest as much time/money into their players? Or was it simply, “lets throw mud at the wall and see what sticks.” 

Either way, I didn’t “stick.”

Playing with the Mets was a much better experience from a players perspective. We had better facilities, better gear, better food, and most importantly, leadership that made you feel like you had a chance to play in the big leagues. 

Development was a little better with the Mets, but not great. We had coaches willing to work with you to get better, but I never felt it was career changing advice. The way the game is going, you have to be able to hit bombs consistently, or throw 95+ with a 90mph slider. 

As a pitcher, I should have been working with a biomechanics expert who could have evaluated my delivery to maximize my physical abilities. This is what guys like Trevor Bauer are doing and I believe this is the key to giving players the best chance to make the big leagues. Instead, I spent the last 3 years of my career wondering why I went from throwing 90-93 mph to sitting at 88. I did everything imaginable to try to get it back but I never could tap back into my full potential. Doing towel drills in the bullpen might get me to throw a few more strikes, but it sure as heck wasn’t going to make me throw any harder. I either needed to tweak my delivery or get on the Barry Bonds diet. I have nobody to blame but myself, but I knew I had it in me and that’s what hurts the most. 

Accuracy just isn’t what gets major league front offices excited anymore. Of course there are exceptions, but typically, painting the corners at 90 isn’t going to get you on the top prospect list. 

Mack's Mets: We hear a lot about how tough it is to be a minor league player, if you ran a major league franchise, what would you do differently in the minor leagues?

Ben: The biggest thing I would change would be communication. The minor leagues are tough as it is, but when you have no idea if you are going to get called up to the bigs or get released, it makes it difficult to go out there and play care free. In my 5 years in the minors, I never had one performance review. All I wanted was for someone to tell me what I needed to work on so I can better my chances of playing in the majors. Whenever I reached out to ask, I would get a generic answer like, “we potentially see you pitching in the big leagues.” Or, “did you get the strength and condition booklet?” 

The Rays were even worse. At least the Mets gave off the appearance that their doors were always open. The Rays coaching staff had shirts hanging in the locker room that said, “catch the ball, throw the ball, hit the ball, and shut the F*** up.” 

I’m not sure if they were referring to us talking back to the umpires, or if they meant for us to not ask them any questions, but I wasn’t going to ask. 

Mack's Mets: What are your thoughts on the proposed contraction of 40 minor league teams?

Ben: I think it’s an unfortunate attempt by Major League Baseball to not pay minor leaguers more. They want people to hit the ball, catch the ball...Well, you get it. It is very upsetting that Major League Baseball would treat their employees that way. 

For those of you that are unsure what a minor league salary looks like, I made a grand total of $8,000 a year. Luckily I received a decent signing bonus with the Rays, but I knew I had to hold on to that or else I’d be living under a bridge somewhere. In the off-season, minor leaguers do not get paid. Players get paid per game. Players do not even make a dime all spring training. During spring training they cover our meals but that is all. In the off-season, I worked as a substitute teacher, an Uber driver, and a tractor driver. Players cannot go on unemployment either because they are still under contract by the major league team.  

I didn’t mind working or the little pay that I was receiving during the season. I was honored fo play professional baseball and did not need to live a lavish lifestyle. However, during the offseason, I felt like I needed to train like an Olympic athlete to try to complete with the best players in the world. When you are trying to make the roster with guys like Yoenis Cespedes, Noah Syndergaard, or Jacob deGrom, that’s not going to come easy. I wanted to at least make enough money to feel comfortable training my butt off and not have to worry about making my rent. 

Mack's Mets: You played for Luis Rojas in St. Lucie and Binghamton.  What was it like playing for him and what can Mets fans expect this season from him?

Ben: Rojas is the best manager that I have ever played for and it’s not even close. He gives his players confidence and lets them go out there and play like they know how. He does not panic when things are going bad and knows every team has its off nights. Rojas has a calming presence about him and I think that will be very important in NYC. I’m excited to see him get the chance to manage at the major league level and I hope he will become one of the all time greats. 

Mack's Mets: You also played with Luis Guillorme and Tomas Nido in both St. Lucie and Binghamton.  What can you tell Mets fans about playing with them?

Ben:  Yes I played with them there and also Savannah, Georgia. They are incredible athletes and it was a pleasure playing with both of them. Guillorme has the best hands I’ve ever seen! He was truly born with a gift and I loved having him at short when I was pitching. 

Nido was an incredible receiver, threw out almost every runner, but most importantly, he understood his pitchers. Most catchers want you to throw what they think you should get the hitter out with. Nido understood my strengths and we attacked hitters in that way. We had a lot of success together and I’ve never been more in sync with a catcher in my career. Nido is also a great hitter, he just needs to get more AB’s and get comfortable at that level.

Playing with guys like Nido and Guillome is what I miss the most. When you are on a team with such great athletes it’s incredible to be a part of that. I also played with Pete Alonso, Corey Oswalt, Tyler Bashlor, Tim Peterson, Drew Smith, Amed Rosario, and many others. It was amazing to see such athleticism on display each night. 

Mack's Mets: What was it like pitching to Tomas Nido?  What makes him such a popular receiver with pitchers?

Ben: I guess I already answered that but he also has incredible hands. He’s able to steal strikes for pitchers. I loved when I would throw a curveball and he would reach out and stick it before it went below the knees. He is so good at that. 

Mack's Mets (Reese Kaplan): Who did you see on the way up who surprised you with how good or bad he was? 

Ben: I saw countless 1st round busts but I remember Josh Bell and Trea Turner really impressing me. They were such tough outs. I once threw a great change up to Bell that started down the middle and dropped down sharply as it crossed the plate. Bell was fooled but still managed to reach down and slap it down the line for a double. I couldn’t have made a better pitch and I stood there and couldn’t believe it. I guess that’s how every pitcher must have felt facing Vladimir Guerrero. 

Mack's Mets: After Binghamton, you pitched in the Mexican league that last two years, please tell us what that was like.

Ben: That was so much fun. If you want to go see an Entertaining baseball game, go to Mexico! They play music the entire game and it feels like you’re at a concert the entire time. They know how to have a good time down there. I think Major League Baseball could learn a thing or two from them. Overall my experience in Mexico was great. I became a Mexican citizen and was seriously contemplating trying to play down there for the next 10 years. The people are so friendly, the food is great, the fans were amazing, the pay is good, the cost of living is cheap. There wasn’t much to complain about but I felt like I needed to move on from baseball to set myself up for the future. 

Mack's Mets: While they have cancelled the league for this summer, the last I heard is that they plan to operate the winter league.  Are you going to try and play this winter?

Ben: I got an offer to go play winter ball in Venezuela last winter but I think my playing days are done. 

Mack's Mets: What do you think about the new MLB rule of requiring a pitcher to throw to a minimum of three batters?

Ben: I didn’t even hear about that but it makes sense why they would. Making two pitching changes an inning late in the game slows things down so much. 

Mack's Mets: Do you think this will have a negative impact on lefty pitchers?

Ben: I guess it could but if you’ve made it to the major leagues as a reliever, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve been able to get righties out in your career. I don’t have the numbers in front of me but Jerry Blevins always seemed to do well against righties. I think it’s still extremely valuable to have a lefty specialist in your bullpen for late game situations but managers might have to be a bit more strategic on how they use them now. I know Rojas will be just fine. He’d usually set me up to start an inning with 2 lefties coming up and he always put me in the best situation to have success. I’m sure he’ll do the same for the Lefties they have now. 

Mack's Mets: Please share anything else you wish at this time.  

Ben: Thanks again for reaching out. I love baseball and still think about it non stop. It was great to sit down and look back at some of these things. 

Mack's Mets: Thanks Ben.  Really appreciate the time.  Best of luck in the future.