Sept. 24--As recently as earlier this month, manager Joe Maddon raved about Justin Grimm's ability to retire left-handed batters as well as right-handed hitters.
But in the past two weeks, Grimm's toughest opponent has been himself, as his struggles continued Wednesday night in the seventh inning of the Chicago Cubs' 4-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Grimm walked three batters and allowed a sacrifice to Martin Maldonado, in which Kyle Schwarber made a tumbling catch on the warning track in left center.
After posting a 1.94 ERA after 51 appearances through Sept. 6, Grimm has allowed eight runs (albeit only two earned runs) on seven walks in his past 5 2/3 innings covering eight appearances.
"It's not about him getting hit," Maddon said. "He's beating himself a little bit, but we can fix that."
Grimm wasn't available for comment after the game, but he hasn't pitched as frequently as in the past. Grimm has pitched in 59 games after missing the first five weeks because of a right arm injury.
This was Grimm's first appearance since Saturday. He had pitched on six days during a nine-day stretch prior to his three-day break.
"He was really fresh," Maddon said. "Maybe couple of the walks have been showing up more recently because maybe we were using him often. We got to keep talking to him. We have been.
"His stuff has been fantastic. I don't think he's been fatigued. I'll keep using him out there. I have a lot of faith in the guy."
