In third season with D-backs, Zack Greinke caps 2018 with win over LA
Sep 26, 2018, 9:57 PM | Updated: 10:05 pm
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zack Greinke throws to a Los Angeles Dodgers batter during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said before Wednesday’s game that Zack Greinke would not pitch against the Padres in the upcoming series in San Diego.
That meant Greinke’s outing against his former team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, would be his last in 2018. He went out and pitched 6.0 innings, allowing two runs on eight hits and two walks with six strikeouts in the D-backs’ 7-2 win over the Dodgers.
And thus, he finishes his season with 199 strikeouts.
But despite the fact that he fell just painfully short of a big milestone (it would’ve been the 14th time in D-backs history that a pitcher recorded 200 strikeouts in a season), his season was a success by most measures. The 34-year-old pitched 207.2 innings, recording a 3.21 ERA and (almost) 200 punchouts. He averaged 8.6 strikeouts per nine innings and was selected as a National League All-Star.
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Those are stark improvements from his first year in Sedona Red.
When Greinke signed a six-year, $206.5 million contract before the 2016 season, expectations were high. He pitched on Opening Day and gave up seven runs in his D-backs debut, and finished the season with a 4.37 ERA.
He has since put up back-to-back All-Star seasons with an ERA around 3.20. His 2018 season wasn’t like his campaign in 2015 for LA when he posted a league-best 1.66 ERA, but then again, that would’ve been nearly impossible to match. His outing on Wednesday completed a 33-start season in which the right-hander compiled his second year of above-average numbers in three years with Arizona.
