Grover on being a Rule 5 selection by the Orioles

Taylor Grover was sick in bed, given permission by his manager in Venezuela to skip a few games, as the Rule 5 draft unfolded in Las Vegas. He tried to stream it on his phone, struggling to get a wireless connection, and almost missed its most critical moment. The one that would change his life.

The Reds had signed Grover, the 27-year-old pitcher fresh out of two independent leagues, and left him exposed two weeks later in the Triple-A phase of the draft that closed the Winter Meetings. The Orioles, selecting first based on their record in 2018, resisted the opportunity to trade the pick and grabbed him.

Pondering retirement and a new vocation after getting married, Grover suddenly had two teams making commitments to him and others sniffing around due to a blazing fastball that was featured in a video posted on Twitter.

Not your typical baseball tale.

Agent Josh Kusnick alerted Grover that the Reds were interested, which is where this story really takes off.

"I was excited because I wasn't sure if I was on anybody's radar or not," said Grover, a 10th-round pick of the Red Sox in 2013 out of the University of South Carolina Aiken. "I signed and about two weeks later Josh called me about 4 a.m. and said, 'I think you might get taken in the Rule 5 draft unless the Reds protect you.' I was like, 'Oh, OK.'

"I was probably more surprised that I was even taken in the draft as opposed to the Reds not protecting me."

Finally able to get an Internet connection in his room, Grover tuned in just as the Triple-A phase began.

"About the time I found it and loaded it, the guy was literally on the podium saying, 'The first pick of the draft ...'" Grover recalled. "I laid my phone down and I was like, 'Well, let's see what guy gets taken here.' They said my name and I was so kind of bewildered by it that I didn't realize that it was really my name. I got off the live feed and I went to the play by play and sure enough, my name was right there."

An overnight sensation at 27 after being released by the Diamondbacks in March and relegated to pitching for the American Association's Chicago Dogs and Atlantic League's Long Island Ducks. No affiliated team wanted him. He almost signed with a club in Korea, but ownership wouldn't allow it

"If you ask Josh, he'll tell you that I was very concerned," said Grover, who's 9-22 with a 4.10 ERA and 1.277 WHIP in five minor league seasons and has walked 117 batters and struck out 296 in 307 innings.

"I was confident in myself, but I wasn't sure how things were going to shake out. My wife and I talked about how being in independent ball is kind of like the lowest on the totem pole and to get taken in the first pick in the draft is a massive turn of events."

Kusnick provided the spin after contacting Rob Friedman, known on Twitter as the "Pitching Ninja," about posting video of Grover throwing 102 mph over the summer. Executives that turned up their noses were tuning in. More than a few wanted to trade up in the Triple-A phase.

"I hit 100 in my last year with the Red Sox in 2017, probably just a couple times," Grover said. "I had video of that. And then this year with the Chicago team in independent ball, I was moved into a closing role, where Josh and I always wanted me to be in because I flourish as a one-inning, two-inning blowout pitcher.

"It came to the point where the middle of the season to the end of the season, I was touching 100 regularly and even hitting higher. The guy that handled the stats told me that I hit 100-102 at least 28 to 32 times during the year, which is remarkable for me because I've worked really hard to get to that. But, yeah, definitely the video and Rob Friedman with his Twitter account and just a lot of the social media stuff surprisingly enough propelled me into a lot of people's offices, I guess."

Kusnick said 70,000 people saw the video, the power of Twitter flexing its muscle.

"If that video wasn't there, there's no way he gets Rule 5'd by the Orioles," Kusnick said. "I don't think they would have heard of him, I don't think anybody would have heard of him if it wasn't for Twitter.

"The best example I can give you is like a music fan. One day, we have hair metal and the next day Nirvana happened. We don't have hair metal anymore and everything is grunge. With Grover it was like independent league, 27 years old, nobody cares, and then the video came out and it was like, 'Oh, this guy should be in the big leagues.' What the hell happened?

"I've been screaming at teams. He's the same pitcher today that he was at the end of the season. From the time the season ended to the time that video came out, I called every single team in the major leagues and no one wanted to sign him. The video came out and there was a bidding war and he gets Rule 5'd. How weird is that?

"There were teams trying to trade up for a minor league Rule 5 pick. That never happens. But this is the same guy I've been selling for years. I actually had to clarify that for Baltimore. This isn't a guy who all of a sudden got released, went to Indy ball and magically starting throwing 100. He always was ticking upward."

Grover's fastball would climb into the mid-90s in college, where he was a converted third baseman given a limited number of innings. An exercise program allowed him to steadily gain velocity and bring more separation from a slider that's clocked in the high 80s. He's pretty much ditched his splitter.

"I created a routine of mine as far as diet, weighted balls, a band routine, a long-toss routine and I kind of molded it all together and stuck with it religiously ever since I was in college," said Grover, who walked 20 batters and struck out 63 over 48 innings with the Chicago Dogs.

"I've seen every year a very gradual increase, but in my professional career I've always been in the upper 90s every year. My first year in rookie ball, I probably averaged low to mid 90s. I was turned into a long guy and had to adjust to a lot of things because I've never really done that and my velocity dropped a little bit, those longer roles, but every time I've been in a shorter role, I've always been in the average to mid and touching higher."

The Orioles haven't told Grover or Kusnick whether they're going to extend an invitation to spring training.

"I'll just be really honest, I would love that," Grover said. "I'll tell you this, if I was offered to go to big league camp and pitch in front of all those people, there would definitely be an adrenaline rush, which I live for. I'd really touch some digits there. But I'm thankful for the opportunity I have and I'm going to go on those back fields and do the absolute best I can. But I would be over the moon excited if I was invited to camp."

Kusnick will be there as a friend as much as an agent. They're so close that Kusnick was in Grover's wedding. It's more than just business.

"One of the things I love about him is he's 100 percent honest all the time," Grover said. "That's kind of what we built our relationship and friendship off of from the very beginning. I always trust everything he says. He's like family to me now."

"He has great makeup," Kusnick said, "and I always thought he was misused by other organizations. I'm a good scout and I've watched him play enough and I know my ability to evaluate players and it baffles me how he hasn't gotten an opportunity from anybody legitimately that he should have.

"Boston had him as a long guy, Arizona cut him in spring training after a couple outings because they didn't see the velo they saw late in the season. I had a plan with the Reds that explained how he gets into shape and when his velo shows up and all that stuff and the Reds were on board with it. It was a really good situation, and then the Orioles out of nowhere take him."

Kusnick shared the same plan with director of minor league operations Kent Qualls right after the Rule 5 draft, letting him know that Grover won't be lighting up the radar gun in Sarasota. (Qualls was instrumental in getting Grover out of Venezuela after only one relief appearance.)

"You're not going to see 101 in spring. That's not how this works," Kusnick said. "I really had to go over the history of Grover and they appreciated it, I think. I just don't get how he has not played in the big leagues. It makes no sense to me.

"If the Orioles go slowly with him, this guy has a chance to be a valuable piece. I love him. I don't understand how he's not a closer in the big leagues right now.

"He has no money. He got like 10 grand as a signing bonus. He hasn't made any money in the minor leagues. So, for him to get this opportunity is awesome. And with the indy ball stuff, he kept asking me, 'Do you think I should be going? Do you think I should quit? If I don't get a job in the offseason I'm going to call it.'

"He would tell me these things. I'm like, 'Don't stop. These guys are stupid. I don't know what they're missing, but I didn't miss it. Somebody's going to figure this out eventually.' "

Taylor Grover, 100mph Fastball (independent league/been up to 102 mph). 🔥@therealTGrover pic.twitter.com/KTknobNFY5

-- Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) November 23, 2018