61 Facts About Zack Greinke

Donald Zackary Greinke is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball.

Zack Greinke's career was nearly derailed by his battles with depression and anxiety in 2005 and 2006, and he missed most of the 2006 season.

Zack Greinke returned in 2007 as a relief pitcher, before rejoining the starting rotation in 2008 and developing into one of the top pitchers in the game.

Zack Greinke was born in Orlando, Florida, the son of teachers Donald and Marsha Zack Greinke.

Zack Greinke is of German descent, and was active in Little League and excelled in tennis and golf tournaments as a youth.

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Zack Greinke played shortstop for the team, and his coach estimated that he hit close to.

Zack Greinke was primarily a shortstop when he started playing baseball at Apopka High School.

Zack Greinke worked as a relief pitcher as a sophomore and junior, before becoming a starting pitcher as a senior.

Zack Greinke was selected in the first round with the 6th pick of the 2002 Major League Baseball draft by the Kansas City Royals, who felt he was a polished player who could move quickly through their system.

Zack Greinke turned down a scholarship offer from Clemson University to sign with the Royals for a $2.

Zack Greinke pitched in six minor league games for the Royals farm teams in 2002: three games for the Gulf Coast Royals, two for the Low-A Spokane Indians, and two innings for the High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Carolina League.

Zack Greinke had a couple of games where he struggled at Wichita and gave up a lot of runs.

Zack Greinke was named the organization's Minor League Pitcher of the Year for 2003.

Zack Greinke was called up to the major leagues on May 22,2004, and made his major league debut against the Oakland Athletics, allowing two runs in five innings.

Zack Greinke left spring training for personal reasons in late February 2006.

Zack Greinke was placed on the 60-day disabled list due to psychological issues and took time away from baseball entirely.

Zack Greinke began seeing a sports psychologist and taking anti-depressant medication.

Zack Greinke returned to the rotation in 2008 and performed well that season.

Zack Greinke credited some of his performance to his use of "modern pitching metrics" — statistics on team defense and defense independent pitching statistics — to calibrate his own approach to pitching.

Zack Greinke specifically mentioned FIP, an indicator developed by sabermetrician Tom Tango, as his favorite statistic.

On December 17,2010, Zack Greinke reportedly asked the Royals to trade him, claiming that he was not motivated to play for a rebuilding team.

Zack Greinke was given the number 13, instead of his preferred number 23, due to number 23 already being issued to Rickie Weeks.

Zack Greinke made his Brewers debut in the second game of a doubleheader on May 4,2011.

Zack Greinke became only the fifth Brewer pitcher to strike out 200+ batters in a season.

The following day, Zack Greinke started again, but lasted only until the third inning.

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Zack Greinke became the first pitcher since 1920 to record 13 strikeouts in five innings or less in a game against the Seattle Mariners on September 25.

Zack Greinke then combined with four other Angels pitchers to tie an American League record by striking out 20 batters in a nine-inning game.

Zack Greinke agreed to a six-year free agent contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers worth $147 million, on December 8,2012.

Zack Greinke later claimed that he chose the Dodgers over the Texas Rangers, who were pursuing him, primarily because they offered more money.

On June 11,2013, Zack Greinke was hit in the head and neck area by Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Ian Kennedy, leading to a bench-clearing brawl.

Zack Greinke picked up his 100th career win on August 5,2013, against the St Louis Cardinals.

Zack Greinke was awarded with the Silver Slugger Award as the best hitting pitcher in the National League.

Zack Greinke began the 2014 season by setting an MLB record with 22 straight starts where he allowed two or fewer earned runs.

Zack Greinke won the Gold Glove Award as the best fielding pitcher in the National League.

Zack Greinke was then selected to the All-Star Game, his second straight appearance, and chosen to be the starting pitcher for the National League squad.

Zack Greinke led all major league pitchers in left on base percentage, stranding 86.

Zack Greinke pitched in two games in the 2015 National League Division Series against the New York Mets.

Zack Greinke finished second in the NL Cy Young Award voting to Jake Arrieta.

Zack Greinke started on Opening Day 2016 at Chase Field against the Colorado Rockies; he gave up seven runs in four innings, including two home runs to rookie shortstop Trevor Story, who was making his MLB debut.

Zack Greinke allowed three runs in the first inning, and struggled through the rest of his outing.

Zack Greinke got his first win as a Diamondback on April 19,2016, against the San Francisco Giants, allowing just one run in over six innings of work.

On July 3,2016, Zack Greinke was placed on the 15-day disabled list due to a left oblique strain.

In 2017, Zack Greinke was selected to the NL All-Star team, his fourth All-Star selection.

Zack Greinke won his fourth consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Award after the 2017 season.

Zack Greinke finished fourth in the Cy Young voting behind Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw and Stephen Strasburg.

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Zack Greinke started Games 3 and 7 of the 2019 World Series for Houston.

Zack Greinke was replaced by Will Harris, who allowed a 2-run home run to Howie Kendrick.

Zack Greinke pitched six scoreless innings, the 65th time his career he has produced at least six scoreless innings.

On June 4,2021, Zack Greinke threw a complete game for the first time since April 19,2017.

On March 16,2022, Zack Greinke signed a one-year, $13 million contract to return to the Royals.

On March 31, Zack Greinke was announced as the Royals' Opening Day Starter, the first time he'd been given the role for the Royals since 2010, marking the largest gap between Opening Day pitching starts for the same team.

Zack Greinke's curveball has two speeds with different types of movement, and he will sometimes throw a curve that is more in the middle range combining the types of movement.

Zack Greinke's two-seamer is his most-used pitch against right-handed hitters and is used more frequently than against lefties, as is his slider.

Zack Greinke's curveball is typically used early in the count, while his slider is his most common 2-strike pitch.

Zack Greinke has produced good strikeout-to-walk ratios throughout his career, finishing in his league's top 10 five times and ranking eighth among active pitchers in the category, at 3.

Zack Greinke has been described as a "scientist as a pitcher" and is known for preparing for each start more extensively than most.

Zack Greinke was still awarded NL Gold Glove in 2019 because he started the 2019 season in Arizona before being traded.

Zack Greinke has amassed nine stolen bases over his career, and he has expressed a desire to end his career with ten home runs and ten stolen bases; he has nine of each, with his last home run and stolen base each being in 2019.

Zack Greinke entered Game 5 of the 2021 World Series as a pinch-hitter and recorded a hit, being the first to have a pinch hit in a World Series game since Jack Bentley of the New York Giants in 1923.

Zack Greinke is married to Emily Kuchar, whom he met while attending Apopka High School.

Zack Greinke's younger brother, Luke, was a pitcher who played college baseball at Auburn University.