Griffin Jax Shines in First Taste of Postseason Baseball

[Cody Schoenmann]

Despite undergoing extended shaky stretches during the regular season, reliever Griffin Jax effectively held an eighth-inning lead in back-to-back playoff games. With the lights shining bright, Jax confronted the pressure of the moment head-on and passed with flying colors.

Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson - USA TODAY Sports

A week before the Major League Baseball playoffs started, Twins ace and impending Game 1 starter Pablo López said. "Pressure is a privilege. That means a lot of good things can be expected from you and it's all about embracing the opportunity, embracing the challenge and then at the same time, not trying to do too much."

The pressure was looming for López and the Twins as they were on track to yet again attempt to end the daunting 18-game postseason losing streak that has been a ubiquitous dark cloud hanging over Twins Territory's head since October 5, 2004. 

Fast-forward to Tuesday night, where the Twins own a 3-1 lead through seven innings. The starter, López, pitched a respectable 5 2/3 innings, Louie Varland got the Twins out of a jam (with help from Michael A. Taylor), and Caleb Thielbar pitched a flawless top of the seventh inning. Then, in stepped Jax for the eighth.

Jax began his first career postseason relief appearance by giving up a hard-hit opposite double to Blue Jays right-handed hitting first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Instantly, those who follow the Twins got flashbacks of how Jax's outing would implode during the regular season. A leadoff double would lead to a run-scoring bloop single, which would then be followed by a dribbler down the third base line that had somehow found a hole, and the opposing team had scored two runs in less than five minutes.

After watching what felt like a new iteration of a tragic story that has played out many times, it was nearly impossible not to begin ruminating on worst-case scenarios. 

Luckily, this outing for Jax and Twins faithful was different.

Jax's response to giving up a double to Guerrero Jr. was aggressively going after Blue Jays star shortstop Bo Bichette. Jax attacked the zone, throwing two straight 89 mph sweepers for strikes. During an episode of The Athletic Baseball Show, baseball analytics writer Eno Sarris of The Athletic stated that an elite velocity for a sweeper is any pitch that is thrown over 86 mph, so Jax was throwing what could be deemed an elite offspeed pitch. 

Jax, who threw his sweeper 52.8% of the time during the regular season, threw another 89 mph sweeper on the outside corner to Bichette and struck him out on three pitches.

After striking out Bichette, Jax was set to face Blue Jays second baseman Cavan Biggio with one out and a runner on second in Guerrero Jr. During the plate appearance, Biggio's bat didn't leave his shoulders, and Jax struck him out looking on three straight sweepers.

After the double to Guerrero Jr., Jax struck out Bichette and Biggio on six straight pitches. Jax was through the nepotism trio and was set to face Alejandro Kirk, hoping to get out of the inning and hold the Twins' 3-1 lead.

Jax started Kirk off with a first pitch 96 mph sinker that led to Kirk grounding out to Twins first baseman Donovan Solano and ending the Blue Jays' late-game comeback attempt.

Jax was able to rebound from Guerrero Jr.'s leadoff double and steer them closer to winning their first playoff game in nearly 19 years.

The Twins went on to win 3-1, with Royce Lewis's two home runs and a dominant performance from López and the bullpen, including Jax, being the talking points from Game 1. 

Heading into Game 2, many wondered if the Twins would use the same bullpen arms as the only reliever to throw more than 10 pitches was closer Jhoan Duran, who threw 14.

Game 2 started similarly to Game 1, with starting pitcher Sonny Gray throwing five innings of shutout ball, helping the Twins get out to an early 2-0 lead. Varland once again was the first reliever out of the bullpen but was subsequently replaced by Thielbar as he gave up two hits over only 1/3 of an inning pitched. Thielbar finished the inning by coaxing Matt Chapman into a double play. The Twins' bullpen got out of the sixth inning without giving up a run. 

Brock Stewart, who was arguably the Twins' best reliever while healthy in the regular season, dominated in the seventh, getting the Blue Jays' hitters out in order while having to throw just 13 pitches. Then, just like the day before, Jax began warming up to pitch the eighth inning with a two-run lead prepared to bombard the Blue Jays' lineup with his elite sweeper. 

Like the day before, Jax began the eighth inning facing Guerrero Jr. Rather than giving up a double, Jax got Guerrero Jr. to line out to Twins' centerfielder Michael A. Taylor. 

Jax followed up Guerrero Jr. by getting Bichette to ground out to Twins shortstop Carlos Correa and Biggio to ground to himself. Although Biggio's weak dribbler was a relatively routine play, Jax took a football-esque hit from Biggio but held on to the ball, leading to the Twins holding their 2-0 lead into the ninth inning. 

*It should be noted that Yahoo Sports is technically wrong as Garth Jax played for only the Arizona Cardinals in the 1990s, not the Dallas Cowboys.

As noted by Yahoo Sports, Jax's father, Garth Jax, was a linebacker who played in the National Football League from 1986-1995. Evidently, Jax knew how to take a hit. 

The Twins beat the Blue Jays 2-0 and advanced in the playoffs for the first time since beating the infamous "Moneyball" Oakland Athletics in the 2002 ALDS.

To further emphasize how well Jax pitched, here are Jax's standard and Statcast numbers from his first two postseason appearances:

• Seven Total Batters Faced (TBF), .143 BA, two strikeouts, zero walks, zero home runs given up
• .298 xBA, 29% K%, 80% HardHit%, 95 MPH average EV, -10 average LA, 145 ft distance (average distance of balls put in play off Jax), 108 MPH MAX EV, 394 ft MAX Distance

Admittedly, Jax's numbers are the culmination of a small sample size. Nonetheless, given the extra weight of postseason baseball, his standard and Statcast numbers are impressive and align with when Jax performs at his best during the regular season. 

Many factors went into the Twins sweeping the Blue Jays, but the Twins pitching dominance, particularly from the bullpen and Jax, was arguably the leading cause. 

Despite posting a respectable 3.86 ERA to end the 2023 regular season, his season was a story of ups and downs. To illustrate Jax's fluctuating performance, here are his month-by-month ERA and FIP numbers:

• March/April - 4.63 ERA, 2.18 FIP
• May - 5.56 ERA, 2.73 FIP
• June - 0.00 ERA, 2.04 FIP
• July - 2.61 ERA, 4.80 FIP
• August - 9.00 ERA, 6.06 FIP
• September/October - 2.45 ERA, 2.53 FIP

Jax struggled to begin the 2023 season ERA-wise, but, as his FIP suggested, his underlying numbers indicated that his performance would turn around quickly.

Jax's performance dramatically shifted in June, and he became one of the best relievers in Major League Baseball, winning the Twins Daily Pitcher of the Month award for June over fellow dominant reliever Stewart. 

Jax followed his June dominance with a respectable July but again fell off a cliff in August before rebounding again in September. 

Regardless, Jax confronted the immeasurable pressure of postseason baseball and played a crucial role in helping the Twins end both their playoff game and series losing streak and contributed to bringing a sense of happiness to Twins Territory that has been absent for quite some time.

As we advance, Jax will need to continue this form of dominance if the Twins dare to beat the defending World Champion Astros, advance to the ALCS, and potentially reach the World Series for the first time since 1991. 

What do you think of Jax's Wild Card Round performance? Do you trust him to pitch the eighth inning in the ALDS? Comment below.

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[Karbo]

Yes I think Jax has the talent to succeed. I wondered about his nerves this being the 1st time he pitched post season, but if the 1st 2 games are any indicator, he has nerves of steel!

[Blyleven2011]

Jax has military experience and I think he is always up for the challenge because of his makeup   ...

However Jax does struggle at times with his stuff , I have posted this a few times , if Jax is on his game  he needs less than 15 pitches to retire the side , if he needs more  get him out of there after the 3rd hitter and not allow him to go a full inning like Rocco has done in the past  ...

Try not to use him on consecutive days but now is the playoffs and anything goes , keep the adrenaline flowing  ...

[Rod Carews Birthday]

"To further emphasize how well Jax pitched, here are Jax's standard and Statcast numbers from his first two postseason appearances:

• Seven Total Batters Faced (TBF), .143 BA, two strikeouts, zero walks, zero home runs given up
• .298 xBA, 29% K%, 80% HardHit%, 95 MPH average EV, -10 average LA, 145 ft distance (average distance of balls put in play off Jax), 108 MPH MAX EV, 394 ft MAX Distance"

That is a terrific line, but it also serves to emphasize the both low bar and the extreme difficulties relief pitchers face.  First of all, if Jax were a starter, and he retired the first seven batters of the game in overpowering fashion, we would praise him, but not overly so because two or three scoreless innings happen all the time at the beginning of a game.  We also simply expect (and should expect) starting pitchers to give up a couple of runs here or there so we don't get excited about it when it happens.

In a relief situation, fans sometimes regard an occasional run surrendered (see Duran Jhoan) as being excessive and a sure sign that the reliever has lost it.  It also produces wild fluctuations in ERA because of the limited innings pitched.  In Jax's case, he had two periods (May and August) when he was pretty bad, but other periods (June!) when he was seemingly untouchable.  In addition, any run given up by a reliever in the playoffs gets pretty extreme reactions.  Perception of relief pitchers is pretty weird.  It's probably not fair, but it's reality.

In Jax's case, his overall body of work looks pretty solid this season.  I'm just hoping he's in one of those periods like he was in June.  That will come in very handy during the playoffs. 

[roger]

As Blyleven said, being a Military Academy graduate we can assume he is mentally tough.  Have always believed that many of his tough innings have included one or more really cheap hits.