Zack Greinke

Donald Zackary Greinke (born October 21, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent.

As a teenager, Greinke helped lead his team to the Senior League World Series title in 1999.

He played shortstop for the team, and his coach estimated that he hit close to .700 in the tournament.

Greinke was primarily a shortstop when he started playing baseball at Apopka High School.

He hit over .400 with 31 home runs in his high school career.

He worked as a relief pitcher as a sophomore and junior, before becoming a starting pitcher as a senior.

The Royals selected Greinke in the first round with the 6th pick of the 2002 MLB draft, after he won the Gatorade National Player of the Year Award as a high school senior.

During his senior season, in 2002, Greinke compiled a 9–2 win–loss record, a 0.55 earned run average (ERA), and 118 strikeouts in 63 innings.

He also held opposing batters to a .107 average.

He led his team to a 32–2 record and their third straight district title, and was selected as Gatorade National Player of the Year.

After the high school season ended, he played in the Florida Athletic Coaches Association All-Star Classic and impressed pro scouts with his performance against some of the best hitters in the country.

The Kansas City Royals selected Greinke in the first round, with the sixth overall selection, of the 2002 Major League Baseball draft.

They felt Greinke was a polished player who could move quickly through their system.

Greinke turned down a scholarship offer from Clemson University to sign with the Royals for a $2.5 million signing bonus.

Greinke pitched in six minor league games for the Royals farm teams in 2002: three games for the Gulf Coast Royals, two for the Low-A Spokane Indians, and two innings for the High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Carolina League.

He had a 3.97 ERA in innings.

In 2003, Greinke opened the season with Wilmington, where he was 11–1 with a 1.14 ERA in 14 starts.

Those numbers earned spots on both the Carolina League mid-season and post-season all-star teams as well as Carolina League Pitcher of the Year award.

The Blue Rocks' manager, Billy Gardner, Jr., remarked that Greinke was "the best pitcher I've ever seen at this level of the minor leagues."

He was promoted in July to the AA Wichita Wranglers of the Texas League, where in nine starts he was 4–3 with a 3.23 ERA.

He had a couple of games where he struggled at Wichita and gave up a lot of runs.

However, he bounced back and helped them make the playoffs with a victory in the final game of the season.

Greinke was named the organization's Minor League Pitcher of the Year for 2003.

Greinke primarily played with the Kansas City Royals in Major League Baseball (MLB) across two stints; from his 2004 debut to 2010, and from 2022 to 2023.

After playing in the minor leagues, he made his MLB debut in 2004.

He was promoted by the Royals in 2004 to the Omaha Royals of the Pacific Coast League, where he was 1–1 with a 2.51 ERA in six starts.

Greinke was called up to the major leagues on May 22, 2004, and made his major league debut against the Oakland Athletics, allowing two runs in five innings.

At 20 years old he was the youngest player in the majors and came close to picking up the win, but the team's closer, Jeremy Affeldt, gave up the lead with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Greinke recorded his first career win on June 8, when he pitched seven scoreless innings against the Montreal Expos.

His career was nearly derailed by his battles with depression and anxiety in 2005 and 2006, and he missed most of the 2006 season.

He returned in 2007 as a relief pitcher, before rejoining the starting rotation in 2008 and developing into one of the top pitchers in the game.

In 2009, he appeared in the MLB All-Star Game, led the major leagues in earned run average, and won the American League Cy Young Award.

Following his first stint with the Royals, Greinke would bounce around the league as a journeyman, playing for the Brewers, Angels, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and Astros across small stints from 2011 to 2021.

During this time, Greinke was known for his streak of six consecutive Gold Glove Awards from 2014 to 2019, as well as his second league-leading earned run average in 2015 with the Dodgers.

A dedicated competitor often described as unique in his talent and demeanor by teammates, Greinke is a six-time All-Star, six-time Gold Glove Award winner, two-time Silver Slugger Award winner, two-time earned run average leader, and an American League Cy Young Award recipient.

At age 40, Greinke is currently a free agent.

If Greinke decides to retire, he would be a likely candidate for the National Baseball Hall of Fame on either the first or second ballot when he becomes eligible.

Greinke was born in Orlando, Florida, the son of teachers Donald and Marsha Greinke.

He is of German descent, and was active in Little League and also excelled in tennis and golf tournaments as a youth.

He has also played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Houston Astros, with the latter of which Greinke finished as a runner-up in the 2019 and 2021 World Series.