Learn more about D-backs pitcher Zack Greinke’s off-speed eephus pitch
May 27, 2017, 3:46 PM
Pitching an eephus isn't easy. @Dbacks pitching coach Mike Butcher explains. pic.twitter.com/XWdEdUUY77
— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) May 27, 2017
If there’s a word Arizona Diamondbacks fans are getting introduced to the most since Zack Greinke arrived in the Valley, it’s eephus.
Greinke’s off-speed specialty pitch that he will throw rarely will register anywhere from the mid-70s to mid-60s on the radar gun. When Greinke threw the pitch Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers, it came in at 66 mph.
One of the signature moments of the season for the 33-year-old ace to this point came against the Chicago White Sox Monday when he stilled Yolmer Sanchez with the eephus coming in at 71 mph.
At the time it was the second-slowest strike-three pitch of the 2017 season.
The eephus is beautiful, Greinke shaking "no" so many times is glorious. pic.twitter.com/mNdV3zGJXN
— Matt Johnson (@MattJ_Sports) May 23, 2017
Fox Sports Arizona’s Jody Jackson spoke with pitching coach Mike Butcher in Milwaukee to learn more about the pitch.
“I think you have to have tremendous feel to have it, first of all,” Butcher said. “There’s not too many guys that can throw it in the major leagues.”
Butcher says he’s even seen Greinke throw the pitch in the low-60s when he was in Kansas City. He also credits Greinke for being able to use the eephus because his delivery remains consistent despite how unusual the pitch is compared to the others in his rotation.