Griffin Hopes to Follow Up on Good Debut

A.J. Griffin was a solid, young pitcher for the Oakland A's in 2013 before an elbow injury derailed his career the following year.

After a two years spent rehabbing, the A's had seen enough and designated Griffin for assignment back in November.

Shrewd, as always, Rangers general manager Jon Daniels & Co. decided to give Griffin a shot at proving he's still a viable big-league starter and in his season debut last week against the Angels — his first big-league game since 2013 — he showed it.

Now, Griffin will look to follow his promising debut with a similar outing against the Mariners on Wednesday afternoon with the Rangers looking for a three-game sweep and a 5-2 road trip against divisional foes.

If history tells us anything, it's that Griffin should be in line for a good day against Seattle. Noted Rangers killer Kyle Seager, who has 14 career at-bats against Griffin is batting just .214 against him. Fellow Rangers killer Nelson Cruz? Try a .250 average in 12 at-bats. Robinson Cano, of course, is batting .375 against Griffin, so if he can just be careful with Cano, things could end well for the Rangers' starter today.

So far this year, the Rangers have eight quality starts in the team's first nine games, which is something no one saw coming. Now, it's up to Griffin to keep that trend going.

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