Kernels pitcher Griffin Jax a pro baseball player only while on leave from Air Force

CEDAR RAPIDS — It would have been incredibly appropriate for Griffin Jax to be the starting pitcher Tuesday night for the Cedar Rapids Kernels. That he was chosen to catch ceremonial first pitches from military members and veterans before this Fourth of July game against Wisconsin at Veterans Memorial Stadium still was very, very cool.

Jax is the newest Kernel and a temporary one. He'll only be here until July 29, when he'll be assigned a job as an acquisitions officer at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The 22-year-old Colorado native recently graduated from the Air Force Academy and is pitching professionally in the Minnesota Twins organization while on a 60-day leave. His full-time job right now is being a second lieutenant.

'This past year at the Academy, I was pitching every day, practicing with the team,' Jax said, whose team lost to Wisconsin, 2-1, Tuesday. 'I was throwing bullpens two or three times a week, I'd throw to hitters during the week when they weren't playing midweek games, just to keep me in shape. I knew I had to be ready when I showed up here.'

Jax was a third-round draft pick of the Twins last year and signed for $645,600. He pitched in four games for Rookie-level Elizabethton while on another leave.

He originally was told he would be in the reserves upon graduation, which would have allowed him to play baseball during the entire season. But when Donald Trump was elected president and nominated James Mattis as his Secretary of Defense, things changed for Jax.

Athletes are not allowed now to use the reserves as part of their two-year, post-graduate military commitment.

'With the new administration, I don't want to put any blame on anybody, but they've taken a much harder stance on the military with Trump and General Mattis under power,' Jax said. 'They're taking the military a lot more seriously, which is good, though. So that's where we stand right now with my situation.

'At first, I was heartbroken, obviously, to originally be told one thing and then have it turn around. Baseball has been my dream since I was a little kid. I was thinking that everything was going to work out, that I was going to be able to do both, have the best of both worlds. When I got told, I didn't know what to think. I kind of shut down for maybe a week or two. My parents could notice a difference in me. But it's fine now. I'm back playing the game I love. I'm not worrying about the bad things, I'm just focusing on baseball.'

Jax said his fastball normally sits between 90 and 93 miles per hour and can reach 95, with a slider and changeup also in his arsenal. He threw seven shutout innings in his first Kernels start this past Saturday night at Clinton.

Cape Canaveral to Fort Myers, Fla., is about a three-hour-drive, and Fort Myers is where the Twins have a high-Class A team and its spring training complex. Though it's not a done deal, Jax believes he'll be able to make the commute on weekends after July 29 and pitch for Fort Myers.

'I don't really know what my schedule is going to be like,' said Jax, whose father, Garth, played linebacker in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals. 'I don't want to say anything wrong, but right now, I think I'll have weekends off. Then I can drive to Fort Myers and hopefully pitch on Friday or Saturday, just to stay in shape and keep working out with the Twins ... That's what I'm hoping for, that's what I'm planning on.'

Wisconsin got a two-out RBI single the other way to left field from Tucker Neuhaus to score the winning run in the top of the ninth inning. Reliever Max Cordy (0-3) took the loss.

Cedar Rapids (45-38, 6-7 in the second half) got two hits and an RBI from Lewin Diaz. The teams play again Wednesday night at 6:35.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com