Graves Working Back to the Bigs
Graves doesn't shy away from getting on the mound. A two-time National League All-Star, he once worked 111 innings in 75 games in a single season with Cincinnati (1999). The following year, he went 10-5 with a 2.56ERA while throwing 91.1 more innings for the Reds. Three seasons later, Graves agreed to move to Cincinnati's starting rotation and threw a career-best 169 innings in 30 games and 26 starts. In 2006, the 32-year old topped the 800 innings-pitched mark in his Major League career.
"Being a sinker ball pitcher, I have to pitch a lot. So while I'm [with Buffalo], I want to get consistent work to get back to where I need to be," said Graves.
That consistent work is what Graves was lacking late in his tenure with the Reds. In 2005, he pitched just 18.1 innings before being released by Cincinnati on June 2. The New York Mets signed him nine days later, but he saw just 26 more innings between the big league club and the Norfolk Tides through the rest of the season.
This year in the Indians' bullpen, he threw just 14 innings in 13 games before being designated for assignment on May 12. At that time, Graves had a 5.79ERA with 18 hits allowed and only three strikeouts: numbers that just don't fit the Cincinnati Red's all-time saves leader with 182.
"When you've done so well before, people's expectations of you are that much higher," said Graves. "So when you don't as well but you're still doing okay, they don't think you're doing well."
There's no doubting Graves has the ability to become a top-notch pitcher once again; one look at his first outing with the Bisons in 2006 proves that. On May 21 against Syracuse, Graves set the SkyChiefs down in order in back-to-back innings, on a total of just 11 pitches.
Two days later, Graves got the extra work he desires, and threw two more shutout innings in Toledo. If anything, he believes the hard times he's had prior to joining the Herd have made him that much stronger of a pitcher.
"When you go through struggles, it takes so much out of you to try to get back to where you were before," said Graves. "I think mentally it's going to make me a lot stronger than I was before."
Right now, the Bisons and their fans will be the beneficiary of the work done by Graves. The first Vietnamese-born player to appear in the Major Leagues is showing the form that helped him go 6-6 with a 2.45ERA and 21 saves in 65 games with Buffalo from 1995-1997. And with more work like that, Graves will be back in Cleveland where he can be a dominate pitcher once again.