Veteran starting pitcher Zack Greinke is two starts into his 2022 season.
The 38-year-old is spending the year with the Kansas City Royals, a team that he has plenty of history with.
Of course, Greinke played seven MLB seasons with the Royals from 2004 to 2010 before spending the next decade or so with several different clubs around the league.
The six-time All-Star is now back where his career started, and he’s looking to add to his decorated resume.
Love seeing Zack Greinke back on the Royals. Feels right.
— Daniel (@Teal_Lantern) April 15, 2022
Greinke’s 2022 season is off to a solid start, and the Royals have to be pleased with the results they’ve gotten from him.
Let’s grade the way things have gone for him to this point.
Grading Greinke’s First Start Of The Season
Greinke’s first start of the year came in Kansas City’s season opener.
He was tasked with facing the Cleveland Guardians, and he was effective.
Greinke tossed 5.2 innings of one-run ball, scattering five hits and walking just one.
He wasn’t exactly dominant, as he struck out just one batter along the way, but he certainly got the job done.
Greinke took a no-decision in the matchup, which the Royals ended up winning.
After the game, he offered his thoughts.
“I was pretty solid but wasn’t crazy sharp,” he said. “Weather was a mess. Both teams had to deal with it. Thought we played a great game defensively and pitched pretty good.”
Cleveland’s offense has been very streaky so far this season.
The Guardians have displayed an ability to post crooked numbers at times, but Greinke seemingly caught them at a good time.
We’ll give him a B+ for this outing.
Grading Greinke’s Second Start Of The Season
Greinke’s second start came against the Detroit Tigers.
It wasn’t a flashy outing for him, as he dealt with command issues and didn’t seem to have all of his pitches working.
He didn’t strike out a batter, either.
However, he did a nice job of grinding through it and ended up with a solid line.
When all was said and done, his day looked like this: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 0 K.
Unfortunately, the Royals had a quiet day at the plate and were dealt a 4-2 loss.
After the game, Greinke spoke about his start.
“It was kind of a tough one,” he said. “Curveball was good, and that was about it. I’ve got to try to figure some stuff out in between starts and be a little sharper the next time out.”
Time will tell if he bounces back with a sharper performance in his next start, which will likely come against the Minnesota Twins.
The Royals' pitching plan for this week's series against the Minnesota Twins:
Tuesday: Chris Archer vs. Carlos Hernández
Wednesday: Chris Paddack vs. Daniel Lynch
Thursday: Joe Ryan vs. Zack Greinke— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) April 17, 2022
As for his start against the Tigers, we’ll give him a B-.
Overall Grade So Far: B
All things considered, Greinke has been solid in the early stages of the 2022 campaign.
It’s too early in the season to pay much attention to player statistics (especially rate stats), but for what it’s worth, the righty has a 2.45 ERA, 3.70 FIP, and 1.09 WHIP so far.
Of course, what really matters is how those numbers look a few months down the road.
As the sample size grows, we’ll know more about what kind of season this is going to be for the former Cy Young award winner.
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