C’s Chat – 2024 Vancouver Canadians RHP #34 Grayson Thurman – C's Plus Baseball

Entering the C’s Chat Room is 2024 Vancouver Canadians pitcher Grayson Thurman.

Hailing from Lynch Station, Virginia, Thurman was originally a catcher at nearby Altavista High School. He joined Division III Lynchburg University as a walk-on in 2018 and eventually made the transition to the mound. Even though he called himself a “No-Feel Guy” when he arrived on campus, Thurman did show some feel as a pitcher with the Hornets. After logging three innings in 2018, he recorded a 2.67 earned run average over 27 innings in 2019 in which he struck out 32 batters, walked 13 and picked up a save. The 2020 pandemic-shortened season saw Thurman post a 0.68 ERA with three saves after striking out 14 batters and walking five over 13-1/3 innings.

The arrow continued to point up for Thurman in 2021 when he won five games and rang up 88 batters versus 27 walks in 49-1/3 innings to go with a 3.62 ERA. The Hornets reached the Old Dominion Athletic Conference final and Thurman was the winning pitcher by completing five innings of one-run relief with seven punchouts as Lynchburg knocked off Shenandoah to advance to the NCAA Division III tournament.

It was not the first time Thurman came up big in relief with the Hornets in 2021. He struck out 12 batters over six shutout stanzas against Bridgewater in an elimination conference playoff game on May 14.

In 2022, Thurman returned to Lynchburg and dominated with 107 strikeouts and only 16 walks in 65-1/3 innings, winning three games and earning 13 saves with a 2.07 ERA. He was recognized for his efforts by receiving ABCA All-American and NCAA tournament All-Regional team selections.

To further boost his credentials for professional baseball, Thurman had a pair of successful stints in the summer college circuit. In 2021, he joined the Sandusky Ice Haulers of the Great Lakes Collegiate League and sat down 41 batters in 19-2/3 innings while notching seven saves. In 2022, Thurman picked up 12 saves and whiffed 45 batters in 26 innings with the Kenosha Kingfish of the Northwoods League. He was named a Northwoods League All-Star for his efforts.

Thurman also squeezed in some time with the West Virginia Black Bears of the MLB Draft League in 2022. He punctuated his season with 10 strikeouts over 3-1/3 innings to clinch a championship for West Virginia over the Williamsport Crosscutters.

The Toronto Blue Jays would come calling by signing Thurman as a free agent on March 24, 2023. He made his pro debut with the Dunedin Blue Jays and struck out the first batter he faced at Fort Myers on April 7. He collected four more Ks over two scoreless innings against Tampa on April 16. His first two saves came in Fort Myers during back-to-back outings on May 4 (0.1IP, 0R) and May 7 (2IP, 0R,2K). Thurman had two more saves in May with a two-inning, four-strikeout effort against Clearwater on May 14 and a one-inning, two K performance at Tampa on May 18.

Professional victory number one for Thurman came on July 2 in St. Lucie when he spun three shutout innings. He notched one more save on August 5 against Fort Myers.

After fanning 53 batters over 45 innings with Dunedin, Thurman was promoted to Double-A New Hampshire in September and got his first save with the Fisher Cats by stranding the bases loaded and striking out the first two men he faced in a perfect ninth at Bowie on September 10.

After getting a cup of coffee in Spring Training with the Blue Jays in which he recorded an out against Philadelphia on February 24, Thurman was assigned to Vancouver to begin the 2024 season. He struck out the only batter he faced in his C’s debut at Spokane on April 5. His first victory came on the road against Tri-City with 1-1/3 scoreless frames and two strikeouts on April 30. His second win of the year came at Spokane on May 15 with another 1-1/3 inning, two-strikeout effort. In his first eight appearances, Thurman did not walk a batter. He has logged a team-leading 16 appearances out of the bullpen heading into late May with a team-best four holds.

C’s Plus Baseball chatted with the 25-year-old Thurman during the Canadians homestand against Everett in May. This interview has been edited for clarity.

C’s Plus Baseball – How did you get involved in baseball? When did it start for you?

Grayson Thurman – At a really young age, I’d always been around sports in general. And then once I got into high school, that’s when I really kind of focused on baseball. And kind of a weird story going into college, but I walked onto a D3. It was kind of iffy back and forth if I was going to play college ball. And then I was given the opportunity to play at Lynchburg College with (Head Coach) Lucas Jones recruiting me. And from there, I mean, listening to him and talking about a championship mindset and what it took to get to that. I think just the work ethic and everything that he said was necessary was where it kind of got me to where I could play professional baseball. A lot of ups and downs, you know, figuring out my role, figuring out who I was. And then, I had a couple summers where I got to go and travel a little bit, which was really cool being from such a small town. But I was given the opportunity to do it, I think I took it and ran with it.

CPB – When did you become a pitcher?

GT – In my freshman year of college. I was actually a catcher in my freshman year where I wasn’t a very good hitter going into college. I got carved up by the pitching machine pretty well. So they were like, ‘All right, we’ll give you a shot at pitching.’ At the time we were in a very good program overall. And so I had the chance to learn to pitch and then had two really good coaches that were able to work with me and get me to the point where I’m at.

CPB – Who are the coaches that helped you develop as a pitcher?

GT – It was (Lynchburg Assistant Coach) Michael Solbach, (Associate Head Coach) Travis Beazley and then Lucas Jones were the three big coaches I give credit to. I had Kyle Hoehne back in Altavista (High School). He was actually good buddies with Lucas Jones. It’s just a good area and a good group of guys that were able to help me.

CPB – Now having been a catcher, has that been a big benefit to you now that you’re on the other side of the battery on the mound?

GT – Yeah, I mean, I will say I was familiar with it but it’s kind of funny because at the end of the day, I still don’t think I was that developed even as a catcher from where I came from. There was a lot of knowledge that I wanted but I didn’t necessarily have. But I definitely think it did help a little bit, you know, just the competitiveness and trying to beat hitters and paying attention to things that I should be throwing and stuff like that. It’s definitely has helped a little bit. But I also just have so much respect for the guys that I throw to. My catchers, those are my guys, Those are the ones that, if they weren’t there, then I couldn’t do anything without them. So you just really appreciate them and everything they do for you.

CPB – You joined the Blue Jays (organization). When did it sink in that, ‘Oh my God, I’m a professional ballplayer?’

GT – Even before signing, once I started to get some recognition and talking to them, it was a crazy feeling where I didn’t really understand what I was getting into. And then, you know, once you put pen to paper, once you’re officially, they say, ‘You’re in the org.’ I think it still takes another month or two just to realize where you’re actually at and the realness of, ‘Hey, you’re one of the guys that you’ve always looked at on TV where they’re working and trying to become a major league baseball player. It’s just really cool to kind of take a step back but I think it was almost a few weeks into the season when I was in Dunedin, where I was like, ‘Wow, this is actual pro ball.’

CPB – Do you remember who reached out to you from the Blue Jays?

GT – It was (current Dunedin Blue Jays pitching coach) Cory Riordan. It was funny. He reached out to me on Twitter, just asking what my plans were for that coming season. I’m telling him that at the time, I hadn’t talked to any affiliates but I was going to an independent team, the Lincoln Salt Dogs in Nebraska. He said he was interested and to send video and all that. So that’s kind of where it took off. But yeah, Cory Riordan was the one who reached out.

CPB – How would you say your adjustment of pro ball has been going so far?

GT – I think it’s been a great experience, but I think I’ve really loved the whole challenge myself and being able to adapt to not only what I need to do to get hitters out but also what they’re asking for me within the organization. I came in throwing a fastball and a curveball that was very 12-6. That was all I threw. And then I had a splitter that I didn’t really know what it was but I kind of played around with it. Then I come into the org, they’re like, ‘You know, the curveball is probably not going to be the pitch for you. We’re going to work on the slider so I changed that. Going from a pitch that I threw probably threw 40 to 60 percent (of the time), somewhere in that range, I threw it a lot in college. And so they come here, get rid of that pitch so it’s just trying to find what my identity was. I think there was some struggle there but again, just a great group of coaches and people that are really straightforward with you. And that’s what I was all about. I wanted the honesty of what I needed to do to not only benefit myself, but the team and how I can be a guy that they can rely on in situations. My biggest thing was just wanting to adapt to whatever they need me to do.

CPB – Your fastball, a four-seam or a two-seam?

GT – It’s a four-seam. Actually, this season, it was a week-and-a-half before this season I started throwing a two-seam. Again, that was another thing where stuff I’ve never thrown in my life coming in and they say, ‘You know, we want you to throw this because we think it’ll work.’ And now I’m throwing a two-seam that I throw really well in the zone consistently and can get weak contact or just something to throw them off a little bit. It’s a cool feeling to see results.

CPB – The splitter. How did you develop thatr?

GT – That’s funny because it went all the way back to high school because I would always play around with my coach. He always he loved the funky pitches and stuff like that so I always played around with it and it would be like a little bit of some weird movement. But again, in college, I never threw it because I didn’t really have control of it. It was kind of wild and I didn’t really need it at that level. And then when I come here, I’m trying to throw it. And basically, Corey puts me into the lab, where they’re able to see the Edgertronics of how it’s coming out of my hand. And they’re like, ‘No, you’re spinning this. We don’t want it to spin. We want it to knuckle.’ He was like, ‘Throw it like this.’ And from my arm angle, I’m very over the top. So he said, ‘You know, that’s going to be a good pitch for you.’ And so I started throwing it. We saw crazy numbers on it, crazy swings and misses and it ended up being one of my best pitches. So it’s just a really cool feeling to see that too.

CPB – It must be a real game changer for you to have that Player Development Complex in Dunedin. What’s it been like working with that?

GT – I went from nothing similar to that at all. A lot of these guys come from bigger schools. I’m really grateful for everything I had at Lynchburg College but it’s just insane to see how advanced and developed these things are where every little thing that you need is going to be in that place. And you have guys that also are teaching you new things, things that you can use that to help you develop on the field and obviously off the field, too. It’s just crazy to see and I’m very lucky and fortunate to be somewhere where I have access to all that.

CPB – I want to talk to you about your delivery. It’s pretty unique, like it is almost cricket or something like that. How did you develop that?

GT – I think the biggest thing was just being a short-arm guy. I was a catcher in high school, obviously, so really short-arm. There are a few times too where even the pitching coaches at Lynchburg College were talking about it. They’re like, ‘You know, it’s really deceptive so it’s not a bad thing.’ They just wanted to make sure it looked healthy on my arm and everything. So I think we got to the point where we could modify it to where it looked and felt fine on my arm and everything. But again, it was just kind of how my body naturally moves. You stick with it and just see how you can build off of that. I didn’t want to change anything crazy so I stuck with it.

CPB – How do you enjoy coming out of the bullpen? What kind of mentality do you take on when they call for you out of the pen?

GT – Yeah, that’s the biggest thing I had in at Lynchburg. I brought that to summer league and then as well to Dunedin. I want to be that guy in any situation that can come in and shut things down. One of my favorite things is talking about guys that are like, ‘Oh, well, if somebody gets on first base with no outs, the likelihood of them scoring is this and that.’ And that’s just numbers based and things of the past. Every situation is different. I want to be the guy who can go out there and do things that are normal, things that typically don’t happen but to shut things down. Because you know if you prepare for things, you know you’re able to get things done. Again it’s just a shutdown mentality whether it’s coming into the third, fifth, seventh, eighth (inning), whenever. I just want to be a guy they can come to any time in any situation and be able to take care of what they need.

CPB – Looking back on your time in Dunedin, you were part of a no-hitter. What was that like to be able to keep the zero up on the board?

GT – It was funny. I mean, I didn’t even really know what was going on and it’s weird because that last inning was when I go in and it’s like you don’t really realize it but everybody’s kind of quiet and there’s not a whole lot going on but it’s all because they’re waiting for that moment. The whole thing was my mindset never changes, no matter the score, the situation, anything. To go out there and then to shut it down to complete the no-hitter. It was pretty sweet when everybody ran out on the field and was all excited about that.

CPB – Now you’re here in Vancouver. Is this the first time you’ve been in Canada?

GT – Yeah, this is the first time out of the States.

CPB – How do you like pitching here so far at The Nat?

GT – Man, it’s beautiful. We’re making the adjustment a little bit to the colder weather from being in Florida so much but it’s starting to heat up here. We got a ton of fans, a ton of people that support us. That’s probably one of the coolest things is having a lot of people that want to come out and watch you play and are rooting for you.

CPB -How much does the crowd pump you up coming out here out of the bullpen?

GT – It’s my favourite thing. You know you have to have that drive on your own whether anybody’s watching, whether it’s one person or a thousand, you know your focus has to be that you’re going to shut it down. But it just gets you going a little bit more when you have all those people there cheering you on. All the noise, just the hype and everything, it just adds to the environment and just makes it a lot more fun.

CPB – You guys have had a bit of unscheduled time off with the four rainouts in a row (back in April). What was that like trying to just try to stay active and try to keep good habits?

GT – I mean, especially as a reliever, there’s a lot of frustration being a guy that you want to pitch two, three times a week and then going pretty much the whole week just about getting canceled. The biggest thing is just being consistent on your work and making sure that even though it’s raining, you still have to get your work in. You still got to get your mound time to just be comfortable and be ready for everything. And then at the end of the day you just got to flush it. There are multiple days where I’m frustrated because I just want to play baseball. That’s what i’m here for and if it’s my choice, there’s a lot of times where I’d play. I want to be out there and I want to compete. That was kind of tough to do, to chill out I guess but at the end of the day, it is what it is.

CPB – Ddid you have a favorite major league team or player growing up?

GT – I’d say my favorite player would probably be Tyler Glasnow. He’s very over-the-top, similar guy. He had a curveball for a while and then he kept playing baseball for like 10 years. Then he kind of came back and he actually changed it a little bit. Now he’s throwing like the cutter-slider kind of thing which is similar to what I’m starting to throw now. So it was really cool seeing that he changed that around the same time that I was trying to work on it. He was my favourite player. I was a big Red Sox fan but that was also when I was a catcher. It was a little bit of a different dynamic and I just enjoyed watching them. But once I started really diving into baseball, it was a lot more of specific players that I would start to watch. James Karinchak was another one with the (Guardians). He’s another player, he’s just really over-the-top, guys that I like to not necessarily mimic but to look at the stuff they do and see how it works for them so I can do the same.

CPB – And the final question, the Canadians have five uniforms — red, black, white, blue and gray. Do you have a favourite one of the bunch?

GT – I’ll say blue is number one, but black is a close second. Blue is the favorite by far.

Grayson Thurman File

Born – December 27, 1998, in Lynch Station, Virginia
Height/Weight – 6-foot-3, 205 pounds
Bats/Throws – Right/Right
Uniform Numbers – Wore number 24 at Lynchburg College from 2018-2022, wore number 34 for the Dunedin Blue Jays and number 37 for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in 2023.
Mound Music – “My Name Is” by Eminem. Previously “Can’t Stop” by Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Twitter – @_gthurm
Instagram – @gthurman98
The More You Know – Teammate of pitcher Clark Candiotti—son of former Vancouver Canadians pitcher and 16-year major league pitcher Tom Candiotti—with the Kenosha Kingfish of the Northwoods League.
The More You Know, Part 2 – The last pitcher named Grayson to pitch in Vancouver was 2017-2018 lefthander Grayson Huffman.