Every boy grows up wanting to play for their hometown team, but very few get to do so. One of those few people could be Grant Gavin, a Parkville native who is putting up good numbers this season with the Omaha Storm Chasers as a right-handed relief pitcher.
With the MLB All-Star break in the rearview mirror and the Royals a long shot for the playoffs, call-ups will likely be more common. For Gavin, a call-up to the Royals would be emotional and a dream come true.
“It would mean the world to me,” Gavin said. “It would be something that I’ve dreamt about since I was five years old. It would be the realization of a lifelong dream.”
Gavin, who turned 26 earlier this month, said he has been going to Royals games ever since he could remember. He grew up looking up to players like Zack Greinke and Mike Sweeney before Wade Davis and Greg Holland in recent years. He also looked up to Alcides Escobar, who he played with this year in Omaha before Escobar was traded to the Washington Nationals earlier this month.
He credits his success in baseball to a great upbringing in Northland Catholic schools. Gavin attended St. Therese from kindergarten through eighth grade before going to St. Pius X High School, graduating in 2013.
“I had a really good childhood and educational process coming through St. Therese and St. Pius,” Gavin said. “I met a lot of great people that I’m still friends with to this day. I still have connections and ties to both places.”
Gavin said he appreciated that he was able to improve his overall athleticism by playing baseball, football and basketball at Pius. With the Warriors baseball team, he found great success as a pitcher and a hitter. He was named to all-conference, all-metro and all-state teams in addition to guiding the Warriors to district and sectional titles under head coach Rick Ringel.
With the football team, he found success as both the starting quarterback and punter, where he was named to all-conference and all-district teams as a QB and all-state as a punter in addition to leading the Warriors to the district championship game in 2012 under head coach Rick Byers. With the Warriors basketball team, he enjoyed a run to the Class 3 championship game in 2013 under head coach Chad Wright.
Following Pius, he went to attend the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, where he pitched for their baseball team and punted for their football team. After redshirting his freshman year as a punter, he decided to drop his football aspirations and focus on baseball.
With the Mules baseball team he dropped his ERA from 5.89 after his freshman year to 2.64 by the end of his junior year recording a total of 82 strikeouts in his three years at UCM. Gavin said he gained some velocity and confidence each year while adding and developing some other pitches.
“The biggest development for me was I learned how to throw a curveball,” Gavin said. “That was the first time in my career where I couldn’t just get away with a fastball. You had to learn something else to keep hitters honest.”
Gavin’s improvement drew interest from Major League organizations halfway through his junior year and he ended up getting to throw at the Royals pre-draft workout in 2016. He felt good about how he threw, but didn’t hear anything back. He thought the interest had gone.
That was until he received a text on June 11, 2016. Seven months after flying to New York City to see his hometown Royals win the 2015 World Series, he had been drafted by the Royals as the 883rd overall pick in the 29th round of the 2016 MLB Draft. Even then, the odds of ever making close to the Major were very slim.
His pro baseball career began soon after in Arizona, where he pitched for the Royals in the Rookie League. He said his curveball helped him a lot. He finished Rookie League with a 2.01 ERA and 47 strikeouts with 49.1 innings pitched, giving up 41 hits and five walks. An impressive Rookie League season was capped off when he was named Royals Rookie League Pitcher of the Year.
He came back in 2017 and pitched even better splitting time between Low-A and High-A. He finished the year with 77 strikeouts and a 1.65 ERA in 65.1 innings, giving up 43 hits and 25 walks.
Midway through 2018 Gavin got moved up to Double-A in Northwest Arkansas. He ended his third year in professional baseball with a 3.19 ERA in 53.2 innings. He returned to Northwest Arkansas in 2019 and ended the year with a 3.61 ERA in 52.1 innings.
“The thing that I’ve done the best is I’ve been consistent with my effort and my work ethic,” Gavin said. “Just how I prepare to go out there every couple days and pitch. Even if I have a bad outing, I’ve been able to come back out and right the ship the next few outings.”
Performing well and adding a new pitch, Gavin was excited for another season to further develop as a pitcher. Then Covid hit and the minor leagues were cancelled for 2020. After not being invited to the Royals’ alternative site he was still eager to find a way to develop.
Coming together with some other minor leaguers in town, Gavin was able to coordinate workouts once a week at St. Pius X’s new athletic complex. They did live at-bats to allow each player, regardless of position, to develop at whatever they needed.
“It was kind of word of mouth. There were a bunch of pro players in the same situation where we’re all bummed that we don’t have a season,” Gavin explained. “I was very motivated to get that done because I knew what I needed to improve was my pitchability, throwing more strikes and being able to command three pitches.”
That dedication paid off this year since he was moved up to Triple-A, the final stop before the Majors, to play for the Storm Chasers. As of July 25, Gavin has pitched a total of 43.1 innings for Omaha, getting 49 strikeouts and giving up 37 hits with a 3.95 ERA.
Gavin described himself as a pitcher that has options with three quality pitches that can get outs. His fastball is typically between 92 and 94 MPH, occasionally touching 95. He also has a breaking ball between 81 and 84 MPH and a split-change between 84 and 86 MPH.
Gavin is also appreciative of all the coaches he’s had along the journey. His college pitching coach, Damian Stambersky, helped to guide him down the right path in his three years with UCM.
After getting drafted Bob Zimmerman, owner of Premier Pitching in Overland Park, has worked with Gavin a lot in the offseason. With the Royals, Doug Henry and Larry Carter were the main catalysts to get Gavin to throw the split-change when he was struggling in 2019, which Gavin said is probably his best pitch now.
“I think you're kind of seeing what that pitch has done for me,” Gavin said. “It's kind of opened up some doors and kept hitters a lot more honest.”
With a career ERA of 2.62, 304 career strikeouts and an opponent batting average of .207, Gavin is just waiting for what could possibly be the biggest call of his life from Royals manager Mike Matheny.
Until that call comes, Gavin is focused on improving as a pitcher each and every day.