Grant Ford

GRANT FORD, RIGHT HANDED PITCHER
Born: March 11, 1998
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 175
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Drafted: 5th Round, 154th Overall, 2019
How Acquired: Draft
College: University of Nevada
Agent: N/A

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE
Ford was another in a string of overdrafts by the Pirates early in the 2019 draft.  He wasn’t rated among the better draft prospects by any of the various outlets.  He pitched strictly in relief at Nevada and served as their closer as a junior.  He had a 2.76 ERA and held opponents to a .195 average.  He struck out 51 and walked 13 in 45.2 IP.  Those numbers were a great improvement over his sophomore and freshman seasons, when Ford had ERAs of 8.16 and 7.53, respectively.  He throws 94-97 mph with an upper-80s slider.  Ford signed for $79,100 over the slot value.

2019
A-:  3-1-0, 2.97 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 36.1 IP, 4.2 BB/9, 8.7 K/9

Ford made eight starts and three relief appearances for West Virginia.  Regardless of role, he slowly increased his pitch counts; one of his longest outings was a four-inning relief appearance.  He had problems with walks at times and had his best stretch of pitching in July.  He had a mild reverse platoon split.

2020
DNP

2021
A+:  8-4-0, 6.04 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 76.0 IP, 4.7 BB/9, 10.8 K/9
AAA:  0-0-0, 54.00 ERA, 7.50 WHIP, 1.1 IP, 27.0 BB/9, 13.5 K/9

Ford served as a swing man for Greensboro, making ten starts and 15 relief appearances.  He mostly struggled, mainly due to walks and home runs.  He gave up 17 of the latter with the Grasshoppers, or one every four and a half innings.  The home park accounted for some of that, as he allowed 11 there, but his ERA was a little higher on the road, so that doesn’t explain the struggles.  Both left- and right-handed batters hit him hard.  Ford made two appearances at the end of the season for Indianapolis and got torched.

2022
R:  0-0-0, 3.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 3.0 IP, 3.0 BB/9, 15.0 K/9
A:  0-0-0, 13.50 ERA, 2.25 WHIP, 1.1 IP, 13.5 BB/9, 6.8 K/9
A+:  1-0-0, 3.60 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 10.0 IP, 8.1 BB/9, 4.5 K/9

Ford opened the season with Greensboro, got into five games in relief, and then went out with an unknown injury.  He returned late in the year, getting into three rehab games.

Ford has some ability to miss bats, but he hasn’t put things together.  He’ll return to Greensboro to open 2023.

CONTRACT INFORMATION
2023: Minor league contract
PLAYER INFORMATION
Signing Bonus: $422,500
MiLB Debut: 2019
MLB Debut:
MiLB FA Eligible: 2025
MLB FA Eligible:
Rule 5 Eligible: 2022
Added to 40-Man:
Options Remaining: 3
MLB Service Time: 0.000
TRANSACTIONS
June 4, 2019: Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 5th round, 154th overall pick; signed on June 12.