Zack Greinke to report to Diamondbacks camp late
Arizona Diamondbacks ace Zack Greinke will report to spring training later this week after the team granted him extra days off, the team told reporters.
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zack Greinke, left, throws to Houston Astros' George Springer during the first inning of baseball game Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Arizona Diamondbacks ace Zack Greinke will report to spring training later this week after the team granted him extra days off.
“It doesn’t come as a surprise to me, he was very proactive about it,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “He reached out to me to let me know — he asked for a couple extra days, which I gave him. There’s a couple reasons, a couple thoughts that went into that for me.
“He knows what he needs to do to get ready for the start of the season, he’s done it for a long time, he’s been working out, hitting all of his landmarks, he threw a 40-pitch bullpen last week. So I just felt comfortable in saying, OK, if this is something that you need, I’m OK with it. The one part of it I want to make sure everybody understands is he’s not injured. This was something that he gave me a long heads-up about.”
This isn’t the first time Greinke has been slow to get geared up during spring. In 2017, before his second season with Arizona, he didn’t debut in a spring game until March 3. Last year, he first appeared on February 25.
Greinke led Arizona with 15 wins in 33 starts last season. He went 15-11 with a 3.21 ERA. The 35-year-old has been an All-Star the past two years.
Arizona opens camp looking to smooth out its starting rotation after losing Patrick Corbin in free agency this offseason. After Greinke, Robbie Ray and Zack Godley are the known commodities.
Starter Taijuan Walker, who was placed on the 60-day disabled list Wednesday, is still recovering from Tommy John surgery in April.
Luke Weaver, who was acquired in the D-backs’ trade of All-Star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, and Merrill Kelly, a free agent who spent the last four years in Japan, are the other top candidates to land starting roles come the regular season.
arizonasports.com’s Matt Layman contributed to this story.
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Comments
11 Comments
I would've upped the offer to get David Lee on the Suns. If not that, then I would've traded Nash to OKC or Portland both of whom inquired about Nash. The Suns could've gotten a young player or two to build around and a first round pick.
What kind of owner goes into free agency without a GM? It's blatant stupidity and Robert Sarver is fully to blame. You don't blow up a team that was on the doorstep of reaching the NBA Finals. A team that had amazing chemistry, and synergy between the coach and front office. Anyone remember Kerr cheering on Dragic when he went berserk against the Spurs?
In retrospect handing Amare a max deal would've been unwise. But to not have a respectable GM in place to try and land someone else is inexcusable. Instead you've got Sarver and Babby wasting $81 million dollars on spare parts like: Turkoglu, Childress, Warrick, and Frye. Childress was such a bad fit the Suns used their amnesty provision on him three years ago. They were still paying for that mistake to the tune of 7.3 million just this past season.
The answer is pretty simple to turn this mess around. Blow up the team, and tank. Get a high end draft pick, and dump salary to be in position to throw big time money at a free agent in 2016. Think 2003-2004 Phoenix Suns.
And I disagree with the show and the rest of the NBA when I say I want the Warriors to win. But the NBA won't allow it. LeBron brings in more money and they gave all those picks to the Cavs. Wait...this is a conspiracy forum, right? I still want Golden State to win and do so convincingly.