One of the more lively hitting groups to watch in Spring Training has been that of Randal Grichuk, Carson Kelly, Tommy Pham, Jonathan Rodriguez, and Kolten Wong. In particular, the trio of Grichuk, Pham, and Wong have enjoyed in pushing each other through a competitive chatter of encouragement and trash talk.
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“Everything’s a competition in our group,” stated Pham. “Chuk’s always throwing something out, I’m throwing something or Wong. There’s no holding back, we just make it fun.”
“A little competition always helps,” agreed Grichuk. “We like to smack-talk. We like to enjoy it–that’s getting into the having fun out there, but I think we kind of all take it–it’s all fun and games but we kind of take it a little personally. Let’s go, I want to beat you. I want to beat you. We’re having fun with it and we have a great group to do it with.”
A popular target of their discussions is Grichuk’s hair, which has grown out during the off-season.
“Don’t go there,” scowled the outfielder before breaking into a laugh. “Just kidding. Yeah, (Pham) is having fun with it and it doesn’t really bother me. It’s fun, it’s keeping things light. I think a big thing in this camp is having fun and enjoying it, so just keeping it light and that’s what he’s doing.”
Teammates aren’t the only ones discussing Grichuk’s hair as fans on social media have encouraged for him to both cut and keep it.
“I actually have got a lot about the hair, it’s been weird,” said Grichuk. “Even on like the Caravans and things like that, I got a few questions from the fans on how to get your hair like that.
“Funny thing is, I’m the last person to ask because I let it grow and this is what it’s come to and thankfully, it looks decent because it could’ve looked like crap. I haven’t cut it or done anything to it since since July. I need to start shaping it up and getting it looking better.”
As he did last Spring Training, Grichuk has again sought out the counsel of Ozzie Smith.
“Got to pick his brain a little bit about hitting and stuff like that,” said Grichuk. “He’s a great guy to be around. It’s kind of weird me kind of connecting with him being an outfielder but it just shows some of these older guys that we have here that come into camp like Jim Edmonds, him, and Willie McGee are willing to talk with anybody not just their position.”
While the offense is being helped by The Wizard, on the defensive side, Randal has approached Edmonds with a lot of questions about centerfield.
“That’s a huge part–I think that’s going to be key into hopefully some success in the outfield this year,” he said. “(Edmonds) got good jumps, obviously the ability-wise was phenomenal but the mental side of it that people don’t see and notice is a key part and he was very, very intelligent out there. I want to be able to pick his brain–he was always a few steps ahead of the game, anticipating. You can always get better at everything and I want to work on that this year and this Spring.”
On his own, Grichuk is continuing to work on an adjustment he made to his swing this off-season adding a leg-hang/kick.
“I feel like I’m kind of getting that under control,” he said. “Obviously, there’s still things I want to work on but just staying on the backside–I really want to get that feeling down.”
Working against live pitching and with games to follow, Grichuk is confident he’ll be where he wants before the start of the season.
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