Knuckle Curve Aids Rise of Pitching Star Grotz

Budding pitchers pay private instructors big bucks to learn new pitches.

Burlingame High pitching standout Zac Grotz came up with a nasty one on his own that didn’t cost him a dime.

Grotz was a freshman throwing in the bullpen between starts, when just for fun he started messing with a new grip, holding the ball between his index finger and pinky on the knuckles of his middle and ring finger. He was intrigued by the late, downward movement the pitch produced, and kept working at it.

And soon, a knuckle curve was born.

“It doesn’t drop like a curve,” Grotz said of the pitch. “The spin is forward, so it kind of comes out like a fastball, and then it just drops.

“I’ll throw it in practice to people I’m playing catch with and sometimes they won’t catch it. I’ll get compliments with people saying, ‘That was dirty.’”

The addition of the knuckle curve has given the rising pitching star a filthy repertoire.

Grotz, who pitched mostly out of the bullpen during Burlingame’s Central Coast Section Division II title run last season – he threw three scoreless innings to get the save in a 7-4 victory over Palo Alto in the championship game – has emerged as one of the Peninsula’s most coveted pitching prospects.

The lanky 6-foot-1, 180-pound right-hander commands four pitches and tops out at 87 mph. He is 5-1 with a 1.24 ERA.

He has a standing offer from Division II Cal State Monterey Bay, and is being scouted by San Jose State and Long Beach State, among others, Burlingame coach Shawn Scott said.

He has also attracted the attention of professional scouts, with at least two major league teams contacting Scott.

Grotz has helped keep Burlingame in contention for the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division title after heavy graduation losses from last year’s league co-championship squad. The Panthers (13-11, 7-5 PAL Bay) are in a three-way tie for second place with Carlmont and Terra Nova, trailing first-place El Camino by two games with two games left.

“He knows how to pitch,” Scott said. “He’s got tenacity, and he has respect for the position when he’s on the mound. That’s what sets him apart.”

He’s embraced his role as the staff ace, a role that despite his great stuff, Grotz still had to prove he could assume.

“You never know how they’re going to handle it, but he’s handled it perfect,” Scott said.

Grotz started setting himself apart early in his pitching career, throwing two no-hitters when he was 10 playing Pee Wee ball in San Bruno. He started getting noticed when he pitched for the San Bruno Red Birds 11-and 12-year-olds in a district championship game.

He played shortstop and outfield most of his youth career until the movement on his throws that made him a successful pitcher started giving first basemen and cutoff men fits.

“Even when I play catch now, I have to throw from a different (arm) angle,” he said. “(The ball) just doesn’t go straight.”

In addition to his knuckle curve, Grotz throws a fastball, a slider, a changeup and a curveball.

He also commands a pretty good jump shot.

Grotz is a two-time All-PAL Bay shooting guard who was Burlingame’s second leading scorer this year, averaging 10.6 points.

Grotz’s prep basketball career has limited his time on the baseball field, with the Panthers making deep basketball playoff runs each of the last two years. Nevertheless, he believes basketball has benefitted his baseball career, noting that he’s developed endurance and leg strength that are crucial to success on the mound.

He made a seamless transition the day after his basketball season ended in the second round of the NorCal playoffs, striking out nine batters in four innings in a 3-1 non-league loss to Serra.

Grotz acknowledged that his knuckle curve still needs work.

He considers it his second best offspeed pitch behind his slider. His coaches are working on getting him to use the same smooth overhand pitching motion he uses for his other pitches, noting that more advanced hitters will easily be tipped off by his tendency to try to push the ball from a lower arm angle.

But it will always be a pitch he owns.

“It was just kind of self-taught, on luck,” Grotz said. “It’s kind of unusual, but it works.”