Colorado has a horse in the World Series: Meet Rays pitcher Griffin Jax
Oct 23, 2026, 4:41 PM
The Rockies’ season ended a long time ago, but Colorado still has someone to root for in the World Series. Griffin Jax grew up in the Denver area, pitched at Cherry Creek High School and the Air Force Academy, and will be on the mound for the Tampa Bay Rays against the Milwaukee Brewers. He’s expected to start Game 4 on Tuesday in St. Petersburg, Florida. That makes two years in a row that a Colorado-raised pitcher has started a World Series game. Last year it was Grandview alum Kevin Gausman, for the Blue Jays.
Jax didn’t take the usual path to get here. He was the No. 1 starter at Air Force as a freshman, and the Minnesota Twins drafted him in the third round. He then went pro through the military’s World Class Athlete Program, which let him serve his active-duty commitment by playing baseball. His family has a history in pro sports, too. His dad, Garth Jax, played linebacker for the Cowboys and Cardinals. He jokes that he “had two speeds, start and stop,” while his son pitches with “finesse that their old man never had.”
This season nearly went the other way. Tampa Bay traded for Jax at the 2025 deadline, and he had a 6.35 ERA through April. Then the Rays turned the longtime reliever back into a starter, the job he’d held at Cherry Creek and Air Force. Jax went from two pitches to five: a sweeper, a sinker, a changeup, a fastball and the occasional curveball. He doesn’t overpower hitters, but he gets them to chase. His former Cherry Creek coach, Marc Johnson, put it simply: “Griffin’s just an out-getter who can really pitch to spots.”
He’ll need all of that against Milwaukee. The Brewers led the majors with 103 wins and are the betting favorites. Game 1 is tonight, Friday, at 8 p.m. ET (6 p.m. in Colorado) on FOX. Then circle Tuesday. Rockies fans haven’t had a lot to cheer about this year, so cheering for a Cherry Creek kid in the World Series sounds pretty good.
