Jason Grilli

PITTSBURGH — The first time Clint Hurdle introduced himself to Jason Grilli when the two were with the Colorado Rockies in 2008, the always blunt manager asked the hard-throwing reliever “what do you want out of your career?”

And Grilli’s mind was blown.

“I was like `Are you serious or are you just trying to make small talk?”’ Grilli said with a laugh. “I’d been waiting for somebody to ask me that my whole life.”

The former first-round pick who flamed out as a starter before becoming a nomadic middle reliever told Hurdle he wanted to become a back-end of the bullpen guy.

Hurdle promised to do what he can. And he did. In Pittsburgh.

Three years later.

The Pirates signed Grilli to help out a patched-together bullpen last summer as the club tried to make a rare late-season push. He was a pleasant surprise in 24 appearances, going 2-1 with a 2.48 ERA while showing the same grit that endeared Grilli to Hurdle when the two were in Colorado.

“We had nothing to lose and he wanted to pitch and get an opportunity to show people what he could do again,” Hurdle said. “It was a good fit for both of us.”

And proof that sometimes “you have to throw the statistical analysis out the window,” as the manager put it.

Good idea, because what Grilli is doing this season defies explanation.

The 35-year-old right-hander is off to the best start of his career for the persistent Pirates (25-25), who begin a three-game series in Milwaukee on Friday.

Working almost exclusively as a set-up guy for the first time, Grilli is 1-1 with a 1.80 ERA in 21 appearances this season. Good numbers to be sure. It’s the one in the strikeout column, however, that leaves Hurdle and opposing batters shaking their head.

Grilli has fanned 35 of the 82 batters he’s faced this season and is averaging an eye-popping 15.8 strikeouts per nine innings, nearly double his career average. Buoyed by a fastball that still consistently clocks in the mid-90s and a slider that obeys orders, Grilli is off to the best start of his career.

If he can keep it up for another month, he’s a legitimate All-Star candidate. Ask him the secret and he flashes a sly smile.

“I think it has to do with giving apple to deer in the five-acre woods in the house I’m renting, eating cream cheese and washing it down with a good, cold Budweiser,” he said.

He’s kidding. It’s what he does. Grilli’s admittedly offbeat personality has endeared him to teammates. He’s become a mentor of sorts to young relievers Jared Hughes and Tony Watson.