Kansas City Royals’ Zack Greinke in rare company when it comes to strikeouts
Kansas City Royals veteran starting pitcher Zack Greinke pitched five scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night. He didn’t factor into the decision as the Royals won 7-0, but he did reach yet another milestone in his major-league career.
Greinke, now in his 19th season in the majors, moved into 20th place on MLB’s career strikeout list while putting the Royals on track for their third straight win at Kauffman Stadium. He made his 500th career start earlier this summer.
Greinke, 38, held the Angels to four hits and one walk. He struck out five.
The right-hander started his outing by getting a called third strike against reigning AL MVP Shohei Ohtani on an 89 mph fastball.
“The fastball must have been decent because I was getting some swing and miss on the fastball,” Greinke said. “That doesn’t always happen. Some teams might have been sitting off-speed on me the last couple games. So that could have been it at the beginning of the game, looking for off-speed to hit. The stuff felt solid, nothing incredible.”
Greinke registered all five strikeouts in the first three innings. He also had 10 swing-and-miss pitches — four for third strikes — in the first three innings.
In the third inning, Greinke struck out Brandon Marsh to start the frame and then struck out the next batter, Andrew Velazquez.
The Marsh strikeout gave Greinke 2,855 career strikeouts and tied him with Jim Bunning for 20th place. The Velazquez strikeout gave Greinke sole possession of 20th place.
“I don’t know how that works,” Greinke said of the mark. “Because I think guys have thrown more innings than me, but then there’s more strikeouts nowadays in baseball than there used to be. I’m serious, I hadn’t really thought about it. But I’m kind of shocked to hear that it’s that high on the list.”
Greinke has a ways to go for 19th place, a spot currently held by Hall of Famer John Smoltz with 3,084 strikeouts.
Greinke did more than just get swing and miss against the Angels. He picked off Luis Rengifo at first base to end the fourth inning, and Greinke stranded the bases loaded in the fifth to keep the Angels off the board.
The Angels put five men on in the fifth with the help of a walk, three fielder’s choices, and an error. A force out at the plate and some clutch pitching allowed him to maneuver around that threat.
“Two double plays we have right there to be made, and those are the innings that usually blow up,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “He’s been so good, whether it’s been a miscue we have right there in the first, not letting that stuff compound. That’s what your frontline guys do when it comes to your pitchers.”
As far as the strikeout milestone, Matheny said, “What an accomplishment. You’re talking 20th all-time on that strikeout list. You see some of the names that are on that list. It’s amazing.”
The score remained 0-0 when Greinke turned the game over to the bullpen. The first pitcher to take over was left-hander Amir Garrett.
Garrett is an admirer of the longevity and success Greinke has enjoyed in his career, not to mention his creativity.
“I think Zack has a new pitch every game, and that’s pretty crazy,” Garrett said. “Last game, he threw a fastball at like 89 and then a changeup at 90. And I’m just like, ‘What is that?’ Or he starts throwing a cutter, and I’m like, ‘When did he start throwing a cutter?’
“That’s just how good he is. He’s able to pick up things on the fly. He’s adjusting to the game as it goes along. You can tell he’s a student of the game, still, and not a lot of people can do that.”
Greinke, a former Cy Young Award winner and six-time All-Star, currently has the second-most career wins (222) among active pitchers behind Justin Verlander (239). He’s also among the leaders among active players in starts (504, first), innings (3,182 2/3, first) and strikeouts (2,856, third).
“He’s got good stuff and the way he picks apart hitters, the command with all of his pitches,” Royals center fielder Michael A. Taylor said. “I mean, he just does everything right. He’s got great tempo, so it’s great to play defense behind him. He picked a guy off today. He just does everything. Fields his position. It’s fun to go out there and watch him.”
This story was originally published July 26, 2022 at 1:05 AM.
