Zack Greinke is back with the Kansas City Royals this season, but he’s a very different pitcher from the one who earned AL Cy Young Award honors there in 2009. Yet, in true Zack Greinke fashion, he still manages to find a way to do something amazing.
Back in that 2009 season, Greinke was a pitcher who averaged 10 mph separation between his fastball and changeup. After all, most pitchers find the changeup effective when there’s a significant difference in velocity. A changeup looks like a fastball coming out of the pitcher’s hand, but the speed drop-off and movement can make life awfully difficult for the batter.
Over the years, though, that gap in Greinke’s fastball and changeup velocity has shrunk. And this season — at 38 years old — the difference has just been 2.2 mph. But during Wednesday’s game against the White Sox, Greinke unleashed a four-seam fastball and a changeup to Yasmani Grandal at the same speed — both pitches were clocked at 87 mph.
Zack Greinke, 87mph Fastball & 87mph Changeup.
Remember: "It doesn't have to make sense, if it's Zack Greinke." pic.twitter.com/6w8sSi9PaP
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 27, 2022
Honestly, that’s incredible.
Leave it to Greinke to break baseball norms and still find a way to make it work. Grandal ended up grounding out to first on the at-bat, and baseball fans enjoyed this latest Greinke moment.