Zack Greinke

Zack Greinke
Kansas City Royals – No. 23
Starting pitcher
Bats: Right Throws: Right
debut
May 22, 2004, for the Kansas City Royals
Career statistics (through May 4, 2009)
Win–Loss	40-45
Earned run average	4.08
Strikeouts	562
Stats at Baseball Reference
Teams
Kansas City Royals (2004–present)

Donald Zackary "Zack" Greinke (Template:Pron-en; born October 21, 1983 in Orlando, Florida) is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Kansas City Royals.

High school & minor league

After being named the Gatorade National Player of the Year in 2002, he was selected out of Apopka High School (and turning down a scholarship to Clemson) in the first round of the 2002 draft, he spent the winter of 2002-03 in the Puerto Rican League. Afterwards, he played for the Wilmington Blue Rocks and Wichita Wranglers, where he was named the Royals Minor League Pitcher of the Year, and The Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year, with a 15–4 record and 1.93 ERA.

Major league career

Greinke made his major-league debut on May 22, 2004 against the Oakland Athletics, starting the game in which Reggie Jackson's number was retired by the A's.

He ended the 2004 season with a record of 8 wins and 11 losses (second most wins on the team, after Jimmy Gobble) and a 3.97 ERA. However, Greinke's 2005 season was not as successful, as he went 5–17 with a 5.80 ERA.

Pitching in the American League, Greinke rarely bats due to the designated hitter rule. Greinke's first major league hit was a home run off Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Russ Ortiz in a 12–11 loss on June 10, 2005.

Greinke left the Royals spring training camp for personal reasons in late February, 2006. It was later revealed that he was suffering from social anxiety disorder and depression. He reported back to the Royals' spring training facility in Surprise, Arizona, on April 17, where he underwent ongoing pitching sessions. He was placed on the 60-day disabled list due to psychological issues and took time away from baseball entirely until returning on a rehab assignment with Wichita.

In 2007, Greinke succeeded in staking his claim of the inside portion of the plate and was dominant throughout spring training. He returned to the Royals rotation at the start of the season, but was sent to the bullpen in early May after alternating good starts with bad ones and compiling a 1–4 record with a 5.71 ERA. As a reliever, he was very effective, going 4–1 with a 3.54 ERA. After the 2007 season he signed a one year contract to stay in Kansas City and to avoid arbitration.

Greinke's 2008 saw him return to the rotation and put up a good year, starting in 32 games with a record of 13 wins and 10 losses and an ERA of 3.47. On January 26, 2009, Greinke agreed to a four-year contract with the Royals worth $38 million.

Greinke started off his 2009 season by not allowing a run in his first 24 innings. Greinke's 2008 ended with 14 scoreless innings, which meant that for 38 innings in a row, he hadn't given up a run. On April 24th, Greinke pitched his second complete game in a row, winning 6-1 over the Detroit Tigers after having pitched a complete game shutout against the Texas Rangers in his previous start. Over those two starts, Greinke pitched 18 innings, allowed one unearned run and collected 20 K's. This streak was broken on April 29, 2009 as the Blue Jays scored 1 earned run in the first inning. However, Greinke was beginning to attract national attention for his play, appearing on the cover of the May 4, 2009 cover of Sports Illustrated. This made him the first Royals player to appear on the cover of this magazine during the season since Bo Jackson did in 1989.

Statistics

Year	Age	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	GF	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	HBP	WP	BFP	IBB	BK	ERA	ERA+	WHIP
2004	20	Kansas City	AL	8	11	24	24	0	0	0	0	145.0	143	64	64	26	26	100	8	1	599	3	1	3.97	120	1.17
2005	21	Kansas City	AL	5	17	33	33	2	0	0	0	183.0	233	125	118	23	53	114	13	4	829	0	2	5.80	76	1.56
2006	22	Kansas City	AL	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	6.1	7	3	3	1	3	5	0	0	28	2	0	4.26	110	1.58
2007	23	Kansas City	AL	7	7	52	14	0	0	7	1	122.0	122	52	50	12	36	106	3	3	507	5	1	3.69	127	1.30
2008	24	Kansas City	AL	13	10	32	32	1	0	0	0	202.1	202	87	78	21	56	183	4	8	851	1	1	3.47	123	1.28
2009	25	Kansas City	AL	6	1	7	6	3	2	0	0	45.0	30	3	2	0	8	59	1	1	169	0	0	0.51	1173	0.844
Totals:				40	45	150	109	6	2	7	1	703.2	737	334	315	83	182	562	29	17	2983	11	5	4.03	112	1.306

Roll over stat abbreviations for definitions. Stats through April 4, 2009.

External links

• Career statistics from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Jon Lester	American League Pitcher of the Month April 2009	Succeeded by incumbent