Ottawa Titans sign Evan Grills

The Frontier League’s Ottawa Titans have signed left-hander Evan Grills (Whitby, Ont.).

March 11, 2022

By Davide Disipio

Ottawa Titans

Ottawa, ON – The Ottawa Titans have signed Canadian left-handed pitcher Evan Grills for the 2022 Frontier League season.

Grills, 29, was a 10th round selection of the Houston Astros in the 2010 MLB draft out of Sinclair Secondary School in Whitby, Ont. The 6-foot-4 lefty reached triple-A twice in his minor league career, with both the Astros and Colorado Rockies organizations.

Named to the Houston Astros’ 2016 organizational all-star team, Grills was a career 36-32 with a 4.25 ERA over 608 innings in the minor leagues. The southpaw was sidelined for the entire 2017 season after receiving Tommy John surgery.

After being released by the Astros, Grills signed a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies, earning an invite to major league spring training. The Whitby, Ont., native split the 2019 season between double-A and triple-A, going a combined 5-8 with a 4.50 ERA across 128 innings pitched.

After originally signing with the Titans for the 2021 season, Grills was granted his release to pursue an opportunity in the Chinese Professional Baseball League with the CTBC Brothers. With the Taiwanese side, Grills went 1-1 with a 5.82 ERA in three appearances, tossing 17 innings.

The Canadian is familiar with professional baseball on his native soil as in 2020, he pitched for the American Association’s Winnipeg Goldeyes, toeing the rubber in 11 games, sporting a 3-2 record over 38 2/3 innings pitched.

Grills now calls nearby St. Albert, Ont., home, while also serving as a pitching coach for the Ottawa-Nepean Canadians youth baseball club.

The Ottawa Titans are scheduled to hit the field in late spring playing in the Frontier League, a partner league of Major League Baseball.