Trent Grisham details how he got out of ‘bad place’ to become breakout Yankees star

Yankees center fielder Trent Grisham catches up with Steve Serby for some Q&A during a breakout season.

Q: Center field is a prestigious position at Yankee Stadium.

A: I don’t think there’s really any position that’s not prestigious for the Yankees, but yes, it is.

Q: How would you describe what it’s like being a Yankee?

A: I love it because it kind of simplifies everything. Sometimes the big leagues gets a little bit more about everything but baseball. Here it’s very simple — it’s we’re here to win. It’s very business mentality, very straight cut, there’s no ifs, ands or buts about it, we’re here to win every night, and you can either get on that page or you can go somewhere else.

Q: What is it like playing on the New York stage?

A: It’s the pinnacle of sports and media in the world, so there’s a lot of pressure, but that’s also what makes it a lot of fun.

Q: Your baseball dream started at age 3. What do you remember about those early first days?

A: (Chuckle) What my mom tells me. First word was “ball,” and wanted to play T-Ball starting at the age of 3, and really didn’t stop wanting to do that any day after that.

Q: What drives you?

A: I love the game. That drives me. I would say my childhood dream drives me. And obviously, I honestly just want to see what I’m capable of. I’ve been told since I was young that I had ability and potential and all those other things that people say, but at the end of the day, I want to see where I stand in the league at the end of my career, just to see what I can get out of my capabilities.

Q: How would you sum up your major league career to this point?

A: Unfinished.

Q: What has been the emotional low point for you in the major leagues?

A: It had to be probably middle of ’23 in San Diego, maybe early to the middle of the season. I just got into a bad place where I was thinking negatively a lot more often than I want to admit, and it just kind of spiraled into a bad place. … Meaning I was playing very fearfully on the field. Was thinking, “Don’t do this, don’t do that,” as opposed to just playing the game and having fun, and treating it as a game.

Q: Did it turn out to be a valuable lesson for you? Or is it something you battle all the time?

A: I wouldn’t say I battle it all the time anymore, it was something I had to work out of. It’s a very fearful mentality, worry about what was going to happen instead of staying in the present moment, let my ability come out. I would say it’s something that I have to constantly work at to stay in the right frame of mind, just because this game is hard. … You’re playing against the best players in the world for 180 straight days.

Q: What is the importance of sports psychologists for you?

A: I’ve always kind of been in love with the mind, the role it plays in sports, and baseball in particular. And I kind of fell in love with it at a young age — when I was 18 I just kind of saw it as a separator. Physically, I wasn’t the biggest guy, I wasn’t the fastest guy, was always a good player but I always felt that what set me apart was I just wanted it more, and I was willing to think differently than other people, and I think that that gave me my edge. I kind of took it to the first couple of years of the minor leagues, maybe the first year, year-and-a-half, and then kind of forgot about my love for it. I didn’t really pay much mind to it, maybe kind of got involved with more of what everybody else talks about — the swing and what pitchers are trying to do and all the different metrics. But kind of re-fell in love with it, got back to it, reminded myself of how important it was to me.

Q: Describe the 2022 National League wild card series at Citi Field while with the Padres — when you went 4-for-8 with two homers over three games.

A: I was in a bad place mentally throughout the year. They came to me about a week left in the season, we’d already clinched, so I played the final three days of the season. I got benched in September. I kind of treated it like I did in 2019 and said, I’m just going to go try to free myself up mentally and do what I’ve always done, as opposed to what mechanical change or anything that I was doing that kind of got me into a bad place. So I just kind of freed myself going into that and ended up having a great three days, played well, had some big hits, some big homers. … It was a lot of fun.

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Q; How did you free yourself up?

A: By telling myself I’m going to hit the way that I taught myself how to hit when I was younger as opposed to trying whatever I was trying that year.

Q: What do you remember about the Joe Musgrove sticky substance controversy in Game 3?

A: I don’t really remember much about it other than the [“Hold My Ear”] T-shirts that they had made (laugh). Had something to do with his ear, that was really about it.

Q: Then beating the Dodgers in the NLDS?

A: Well, we got beat up pretty bad the entire time I was there during the regular season. Then they beat us in ’20 in the postseason, so it felt like we were always kind of the Dodgers’ little brother in San Diego at the time. To beat them and send them home when it mattered meant a lot to us, and to the city, too.

Q: Describe the time you ran headfirst into the outfield wall in your second game in the minors.

A: I was going back on a ball, tripped, and instead of kind of going down, I tripped probably a couple of steps before the warning track. … I kind of held myself up, thinking that I could like regain my balance and make the play, but I kind of ran into the wall first. I think I stood up, passed back out, got taken out on a stretcher, ambulance came onto the field and everything. Scared everybody but ended up being just 14 days on the concussion IL and then right back at it.

Q: Did you think you might be done as a baseball player?

A: The thought crossed my mind, but it turned out it was just a concussion.

Q: You said at the time, “They thought my neck might be broken.”

A: The key word “they” — I didn’t think my neck was broken. I thought I was fine. I was trying to stay in the game.

Q: They strapped you to a stretcher, right?

A: I got up and then passed out probably 10 minutes later and don’t remember much. This is all from the coaches’ and teammates’ recollection. I don’t remember that 10 minutes. … It wasn’t even 10 minutes, it was five minutes that I was petitioning.

Q: You were unconscious for how long?

A: It was anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes, and then the first thing I remember vaguely is being put on the stretcher and someone over me, like a paramedic over me.

Q: Your head was swollen for a long time.

A: I couldn’t wear a hat for, like, probably a week-and-a-half.

Q: How did it feel to be back on the field?

A: I was 18, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, ready to play pro ball. I only got to play one game, so …

Q: Describe your on-field mentality.

A: Try to be as relaxed as possible. Try to play as freed up as I can. And I just try to play aggressively on both sides of the ball. A defensive coach in San Diego once told me he used to tell his infielders he liked them to play offense on defense, like attacking balls, and I always liked that, it kind of resonated with me.

Q: What does it take to be a Gold Glove outfielder?

A: I think that mentality. You got to love it, you got to want to do it. I remember when I was younger, in the minor leagues, I just didn’t want to play outfield defense, it was boring, there’s nobody out there. But once I kind of took that mentality later in my minor league career of caring about it and wanting to attack it, it just became a lot more fun for me to get myself in that headspace.

Q: Best baseball moment?

A: First hit was pretty cool … seventh inning in the Dodgers-Padres, I think it was Game 5 in San Diego for the [Division Series] in ’22, that was a lot of fun. That was like the loudest environment that I’d been in. … Getting drafted. … There’s a lot of really good ones.

Q: Worst baseball moment?

A: 2019 wild-card game [Padres against the Nationals]. I made the error to send us home and lose it, so that was pretty tough on me at the time.

Q: How’s fatherhood?

A: A lot of fun. I’ve always wanted to be a dad. I always knew that growing up, so for it to come to fruition it’s really more taking care of Mama right now than anything. I get to do all the fun stuff like hold the baby, try to make him smile.

Q: Ezekiel was born April 21. Does he have your personality yet?

A: Yeah. Stone pan face all the time, doesn’t smile a lot. Not a lot of facial expressions yet.

Q: How’s your diaper game?

A: Pretty good. They blow out still, but I get them in there nice and tight.

Q: Tell me about your wife, Megan.

A: She’s a sweetheart. Very down-to-earth, really, really good person. Very kind, very caring, very empathetic. … She’s just the best.

Q: Do you remember where you took her on your first date?

A: I don’t remember the first date, I remember the first day I asked her to go out with me. We were 13 or 14, and we were at one of our friend’s pools. I was kind of scared my other three buddies that were at the party would make fun of me, so I kind of snuck around a tree and asked her to go out with me. I wanted it to be private with us.

Q: Where did you take her?

A: The first one I really remember was taking her to Saltgrass Steakhouse.

Q: Tell me about your mother, Michelle.

A: One of the toughest women I know … loyal … caring … she basically raised me and my brother kind of alone with a little help. She’s awesome.

Q: She drove your truck across the country?

A: (Laugh) Yeah, she heard about how expensive it was to ship my truck, and she said, “There’s no point in doing that. I want to come see Opening Day anyway. I’ll just come out every spring and drive it to wherever you go.” She drove it from Arizona spring training to Appleton, Wis.

Q: Did you know your father growing up?

A: Yeah, I knew him growing up. He just wasn’t around much.

Q: Did that bother you?

A: I’m sure it bothers any kid, yeah. You want to know your dad, and I didn’t really know him.

Q: Does your wife remind you of your mother?

A: Not really. My wife is sweet-natured, my mom is more direct, more hard-nosed, more straightforward.

Q: Explain her reaction when she found out you wanted to change your last name from Clark to Grisham.

A: She was … honored, I think is kind of the best way to describe it. She was very emotional and excited.

Q: Three dinner guests?

A: Stan Musial, Jackie Robinson, Larry Doby.

Q: Why Musial?

A: Kind of my favorite player. Obviously an unbelievable great player, played for over 20 years. But when you read anything about him or hear anything about him, no one could say anything bad about the man, the way he lived his life, the kind of person he was, the man he was off the field.

Q: Why Doby?

A: Because Larry Doby went through the same thing that Jackie went through right around the same time, and was going to a lot more southern cities, so it wasn’t getting much press. Which means you can probably assume that it was probably worse for him.

Q: Favorite movie?

A: “About Time.” Me and my wife watched it for the first time together and we both loved it.

Q: Favorite singer/entertainer?

A: Hudson Westbrook.

Q: Favorite meal?

A: Since being in New York, it’s 4 Charles’ burger.

Q: How did you get in to that place?

A: Through a guy on the team, helped us out.

Q: Favorite golfer?

A: Scottie Scheffler.

Q: Favorite golf course?

A: Peachtree in Atlanta.

Q: What’s your handicap?

A: Right now, it’s a six.

Q: Favorite Dallas Cowboy?

A: Dak [Prescott].

Q: How about growing up?

A: Jason Witten.

Q: Favorite New York City things?

A: Central Park. I love walking around Central Park.

Q: Whatever comes to mind: Aaron Judge.

A: Captain, every sense of the word.

Q: When you watch him in the batter’s box, what sticks out to you?

A: He’s bigger than everybody. … There’s so many things trying to distract him, pulling him away from baseball, and he’s able to lock in every night, and that’s really fun to watch.

Q: Max Fried.

A: Very businesslike, I’d say like very Yankee-like kind of without being a Yankee before.

Q: Devin Williams.

A: Quiet, goes about his business, kind of loud, emphatic on the mound, but quiet off the mound.

Q: Is this a World Series team?

A: Yes.

Q: Why?

A: Because we’re really good.