BY Louis Addeo-Weiss
Three nights ago, CC Sabathia, longtime major league pitcher, now in his 19th and final season, struck out former teammate John Ryan Murphy on an 82 mph change up to pickup his 3,000th career strikeout, becoming only the 17th pitcher to reach the feat, joining Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton as only the third left-hander to do so.
3,000 strikeouts, along with the elusive 300-win benchmark, are considered among the gold standards for measuring a pitchers candidacy for Cooperstown. After last night, Sabathia, who has won a Cy Young (2007), a World Series (2009), ALCS MVP (2009), and now accumulated more than 3,000 punch outs, is considered by many to be elected to the Hall of Fame once he becomes eligible.
Watching in the opposing dugout, Zack Greinke.
For Greinke, a pitcher who debuted two years after Sabathia, in 2003 with the Kansas City Royals, his path to Cooperstown may appear a bit easier than his left-handed contemporary.
As of May 1st, Greinke, according to baseball-reference, has accumulated 66.9 WAR (Wins Above Replacement), with 62.1 of that coming from his presence on the mound. Among active pitchers, that puts Greinke fourth, trailing the likes of the aforementioned CC (62.7), Clayton Kershaw (62.5), and Justin Verlander (65.2).
Going by adjusted ERA+, Greinke’s career mark of 124+ ties him for 24th all-time, along with active pitchers such as David Price and Cole Hamels.
All-time, Greinke’s pWAR has him as the 52nd best pitcher in major league history, with 44 of the 51 pitchers ahead of him being enshrined in Cooperstown. Of the seven not elected, three are the active pitchers listed above, Kevin Brown, who’s mark of 68.2 is within Greinke’s reach in the next year or so, is one of the other names, along with Roger Clemens, who has failed to garner the required 75% for election due to suspicion surrounding his alleged used of PEDs.
While Sabathia’s forenamed numbers and accolades will bode well when he becomes eligible, it has been his outgoing personality, reputation as a natural clubhouse leader, and mentor to younger players that will only further aid his case for enshrinement.
As for Greinke, while he may exude a degree of professionalism that others may marvel at, his personality is one that has baffled teammates and sportswriters alike, yet, served as a powerful symbol of how high one can perform despite largely limiting factors.
Greinke has wrestled with major depressive and social anxiety disorder throughout his career, first being diagnosed in 2006 while still with Kansas City. There was a time, thankfully, one that didn’t come to fruition, where the right-hander considered quitting baseball.
Speaking with reporters in Spring Training 2013, his first since signing a six-year/$147M contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Greinke referred to his early years in Kansas City when saying, “why am I putting myself through torture when I didn’t really want to do it?. I mean, I enjoyed playing but everything else that went with it I didn’t,” this according to a 2013 piece from Eric Stephen of True Blue LA.
His dissatisfaction with the major league lifestyle reflected itself in his early playing days, as Greinke posted a sub-standard 14-28 W-L record, 4.98 ERA, FIP of 4.59, ERA+ of 92 (league average being 100), and a disastrous 1.39 WHIP, numbers certainly not reflective of the selected 6th overall in the 2002 June Draft. Of the sluggish start, Greinke’s issues on the mound were highlighted by a 5-18 mark in 2005, where Greinke allowed 233 hits and sported a non-competitive 5.80 ERA.
After being prescribed Zoloft though, an SSRI used to treat depressive and anxiety disorders, Grienke began to take steps towards fully realizing his potential.
2007 saw him split time between between the rotation and bullpen, making 14 starts and posting a respectable 3.69 ERA, and averaging nearly 8 strikeouts-per-9 innings.
Following up his 2007 campaign, Greinke further improved when he won a career best 13 decisions, eclipsed 200 innings for the first time in his career, and posted a then-career-best 3.47 ERA, though the best was still yet to come.
Come 2009, and Zack Greinke firmly established himself among the elite pitchers in the sport. Leading all of baseball that season with a 2.16 ERA, 205 ERA+, 2.33 FIP, and AL-best 1.07 WHIP, Greinke won the AL Cy Young Award and was selected to his first All-Star game.
And while 2010 saw him post an ERA slightly north of 4, Greinke again eclipsed 200 innings pitched, this time throwing 220, in what would be his last season with the Royals.
From 2008-15, Greinke pretty much fit this bill, as he posted a 2.99 ERA, 3.02 FIP, 133 ERA+, and 1562 strikeouts. Referring again to WAR, Greinke accumulated 41.9 pWAR during this time, averaging out to 5.2 WAR per season, which is considered All-Star caliber pitching. Of that eight-year run of pitching, Greinke’s 2009 CYA-season saw him post a 10.4 single-season mark, good enough for 35th all-time, along with Clemens (1990), Bob Gibson (1969), Lefty Grove (1930-31), and Tommy Bond (1876).
While not necessarily a standard for election, most baseball writers consider a Hall of Fame caliber player as to having at least 8-10 of consistently great play.
A five-win pitcher over 8 seasons is no such slouch, but a strong run from 2017-18, where Greinke posted WAR’s of 5.7 and 4.2, averaging out to about 5 WAR once again, Greinke’s case for Cooperstown is only strengthened, and a strong start to 2019, where he’ll most likely reach 200 wins, and 2500 strikeouts, will only further aid him.
What makes Greinke’s recent run of success more impressive is the fact that he’s doing so with diminished fastball velocity. According to FanGraphs, since the start of 2016, Greinke’s average fastball velocity has dipped from 92.2 to a career low 89.6 in 2019, yet, he has continued to evolve as a pitcher, a la Greg Maddux-like.
While, Greinke won’t go down among the five-ten best pitchers of all-time, one thing he’ll always be remembered for is his consistency.
And that has to count for something…TRENDING
