Confidence And Conviction

Many kids aspire to be professional athletes when they grow up, and many others dream of following the career path of their parents. In the rare case of Marquis Grissom Jr, he got to do both. After watching his father live out his dream in the MLB, he paved his own way to professional baseball with both the guidance of his family and his strenuous dedication to the game.

“I was in locker rooms since almost birth,” Grissom Jr shares under the cover of the rain-soaked home dugout at Frawley Stadium, recalling his first memories of visiting his father, Marquis Grissom Sr, who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers when he was born. Up and close with the major leagues until his father’s retirement when he was five years old, Grissom Jr became familiar with and fond of baseball at an early age.

“I was always in locker rooms getting to meet some of the greats. That’s where I started falling in love with it more.”

Raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Grissom Jr went to a small Montessori school with no athletics, but he didn’t let that stop him from playing the game he grew to love. He played for a homeschool team and recruited his friends to improve it, showing early signs of leadership and dedication critical to his future success.

Today, Grissom Jr is one of the Wilmington Blue Rocks’ most efficient relievers, but it wasn’t until late in his high school career that he started pitching.

“I was always hitting, but one time my travel ball team didn't have any pitchers, so I was like, ‘I'm gonna try it out.’ I started liking it, and then just started working on everything,” he explains.

The work paid off, and Grissom Jr was ranked 11th amongst pitchers in the country and fourth in Georgia by the time he graduated high school, landing him a prime opportunity to play close to home at Georgia Tech. After only two years at the university and on his 21st birthday, Grissom Jr was selected by the Washington Nationals in the 13th round of the 2022 MLB Draft.

“I was blessed to be drafted on my birthday. It was cool to have that moment.”

Grissom Jr closed out his collegiate career with a 5.69 ERA and five earned wins in just over 91 innings. He was assigned to the Fredericksburg Nationals later that summer, sending him over 700 miles away from his home state, family, and friends.

Similar to the start of his college career, Grissom Jr missed the beginning of his debut season in Fredericksburg due to injury. Now with the Blue Rocks, he says that staying physically healthy is his top priority for the 2024 season, and maintaining his mental health is a major part of it.

“Staying healthy is the number one goal that I've been trying to focus on,” he says. “Just trying to keep an even headspace and not trying to think about too much of stats. I don't look at my stats during the season,” Grissom Jr says, adding that he has gone so far as to delete Twitter to avoid distractions.

It’s no secret that mental toughness is a major aspect of baseball, but for pitchers especially. Having gone from a position player to a pitcher in high school and from a starter to a closer in college, Grissom Jr has spent his entire young baseball career adjusting to changes.

Through all of it, he values the guidance of his father, a World Series champion, and his Uncle Antonio, who played in the minor leagues for the Montreal Expos and Philadelphia Phillies.

“They talk to me every day and just try to keep my head on straight,” he says. “Baseball is like 90% mental so I try to keep a great mental headspace, keep going, and never fall off track.”

Grissom Jr has his eyes on making it to the show, but, at 22 years old, he allows himself to have some fun during the process. The Blue Rocks reliever is currently in the homestretch of his “90 Day Chipotle Challenge,” a self-assigned feat to eat at the fast food restaurant once every day for 90 days.

“I did 30 days the whole spring training last year. I eat Chipotle 150 to 200 times a year, so it's always been a part of me.” Grissom Jr has only missed one day, Easter, because the chain was closed.

Although he admits that he is prone to believing superstitions at times (some burrito related, some not) and it took a bit for the Georgia native to acclimate to brisk northeastern nights, Grissom Jr knows that, at the end of the day, his work that will get him where he needs to be.

“Confidence, conviction, and, if I need to go out there tomorrow or any day, just being ready to go. As a reliever, you gotta be ready.”