Zack Greinke will make his return to the Kansas City Royals rotation on Friday at The K
Zack Greinke will make his return to the Kansas City Royals’ starting rotation on Friday when the club returns to Kauffman Stadium after a nine-game West Coast road trip.
Royals manager Mike Matheny announced Greinke will start the club’s series opener against the Oakland Athletics on Friday night, Greinke’s first start since he went on the injured list with a right flexor strain on May 30.
Greinke made two minor-league rehab starts with Triple-A Omaha. In his second rehab start on Saturday, he pitched seven innings and allowed three runs, six hits, including one home run, and one walk. He struck out four and threw 70 pitches, 51 for strikes.
Right-handers Brad Keller and Brady Singer will follow Greinke in the second and third games of the weekend series. Matheny did not reveal the club’s starting pitching plans beyond the weekend series.
The Royals currently have five starters in their rotation who’ve performed well of late. It’s not clear how the rotation will adjust to accommodate Greinke’s return.
The Royals, who have a scheduled day off on Thursday, will have to make a roster move to activate Greinke prior to Friday’s game.
This season, Greinke is 0-4 with a 5.05 ERA in 10 starts for the Royals. He has struck out 25, walked 10 and posted a .290 opponent batting average. He also allowed seven home runs in 51 2/3 innings.
His results had taken a turn for the worse leading up to his IL stint. In his first six starts, he allowed three runs or fewer and pitched at least five innings. In those starts, he posted an ERA of 2.67, struck out 10 and walked just three.
He also gave up just two home runs during that stretch. Opponents batted .270 against him with a .291 OBP. He was a victim of poor run support early in the season.
In his last four starts, he registered an ERA of 9.50 with 15 strikeouts, seven walks and five home runs allowed. Opponents batted .321 against him with a .371 OBP during that latest stretch.
This story was originally published June 22, 2022 at 8:11 PM.
