Royals Add Decorated Canadian Pitcher Grills to Pitching Staff
GUELPH - The Guelph Royals Baseball Club is thrilled to announce today that we have signed decorated Canadian starting pitcher Evan Grills.
Grills, 31, returns to the IBL after first debuting in the league in as a 16-year-old with the Oshawa Dodgers all the way back in 2008.
The 6-foot-4 southpaw was then drafted by the Houston Astros in the 10th round of the 2010 MLB Draft, making it all the way up to triple-A in 2016.
2016 was when he experienced his best season as a professional, as he was named to the Astros 2016 organizational All-Star team after rocking a 3.71 earned run average in 135.2 innings pitched.
After his time with the Astros, the Canadian was signed by the Colorado Rockies as a minor league free agent, where he once again reached triple-A in 2019.
Since his affiliated career ended, Grills has pitched in the American Association with the Winnipeg Goldeyes, in the CPBL for the CTBC Brothers, and in the Frontier League for the Ottawa Titans.
He most recently pitched for the Titans in their inaugural season in 2022, where he recorded an earned run average of 3.53 in 15 starts, good enough a top-ten finish in the league.
The native of Whitby, Ontario also has experience pitching for Team Canada, having pitched for the National Junior Team as a 14-year-old in 2006.
Royals manager Dino Roumel says it's great to reunite with Grills.
"We are beyond excited to have Evan join the pitching staff. I have known Evan for a number of years, even prior to his professional career. He is a great guy to have in the clubhouse and you'll be hard-pressed to find someone who is more of a competitor and perfectionist on the mound than he is. Evan joins a great pitching staff that is off to a great start and he will play a major role in our starting rotation."