KC Royals pitchers keep noticing surprise guest at their bullpen sessions: Zack Greinke
Brady Singer had finished a throwing session last week at the Royals’ spring training complex when he decided to stick around for the man who followed him. As he took a seat to watch left-hander Daniel Lynch, Singer checked his surroundings, surprised to see he wasn’t alone.
“I turned over,” Singer said, “and he was just sitting there and watching.”
The unannounced guest has been showing up regularly to bullpen sessions throughout spring training, actually, to the surprise of those throwing the pitches.
A few days later, he was back Tuesday morning to watch Lynch yet again, leaning against the fence at first and then squatting to get a better feel for the movement of the ball. Lynch recognize the face tucked behind sunglasses.
Zack Greinke.
This is how Greinke has chosen to spend his first several days back with the Royals — following through on a blueprint that sounded more idealization than reality.
A day after signing Greinke signed a one-year contract, as part of the team’s reasoning for the $13 million investment, team president Dayton Moore said Greinke could influence a young pitching staff. The statement was later echoed by owner John Sherman.
Sounds good, in theory. But who’s to know if that would entail leading by example or an actual hands-on approach? Candidly, his teammates didn’t know. Oh, they were excited about the signing — that’s Zack Freakin’ Greinke, Singer thought — but they were in the dark about expectations.
The first clue came in Greinke’s introductory news conference. He remarked that he’s “not as familiar as I should be” with the rest of the Royals’ pitching staff, which leans on the younger side. “I don’t know deep enough what all the pitchers’ strengths and weaknesses are,” he added, as though it was part of his obligation to know the finer details of every pitch from every pitcher.
So consider this voluntary homework — hopping from bullpen to live session, watching teammates throw. Even when it’s out of his way. A couple of days ago, Greinke took part in pitcher’s fielding practice (PFP, as it’s called) as Brad Keller threw a bullpen.
After a few pitches, Keller turned to see Greinke standing behind him, observing.
“You have to go out of your way to do that,” Keller said.
The Royals have as many as nine guys competing for their starting rotation, and only one is older than 26 — Greinke. He has been in the league 18 years, received a Cy Young Award, won more than 200 games and pitched in the postseason.
But he operates a lot differently now than he did in his first stint with the Royals, which concluded with an offseason trade in 2010. He’s long been a student of the game, part of the reason he could pitch into his 40s.
All of that is relevant to what he apparently plans to incorporate in a new clubhouse. His teammates have found him not only willing to engage in conversations about pitching but eager to have them. Whom better for a young staff to learn from?
We can assess Greinke’s value in terms of a statistical standpoint, and that’s certainly a worthwhile exercise — still the most important exercise. But this is a piece of it, too. It’s more invaluable, perhaps, to a group that has encountered little change for three years.
Lynch said he opened a lengthy conversation with Greinke recently. (He’s already learned Greinke is best engaged the deeper into the weeds the topic.) Lynch wanted to talk about improving his curveball — the pitch he feels he needs to supplement his arsenal.
Greinke’s advice? Play around with grips, and find the one that you can command the best — not necessarily the nastiest among the bunch. If you can’t command it with consistency, Greinke told him, it does you no good.
“I know he’s not afraid to tell you the reality,” Lynch said. “I appreciate that because I think a lot of people sugarcoat things a lot of times, and I like to hear how it is from someone who knows how it is.”
On Tuesday, as most of the team’s pitchers were playing catch, Greinke stayed for the duration of Lynch’s throwing session. He found a coach with whom to play catch later, after the field had cleared.
It’s just part of the routine now. An extra coach on the staff, to a certain extent.
“To have him in the clubhouse,” Keller said, “changed everything.”
This story was originally published March 23, 2022 at 5:00 AM.