Editorials

Zack Greinke Talks His Season, Current Dodgers Team & Cy Young



It’s safe to say that the Los Angeles Dodgers have a pair of aces at the top of their starting rotation.

Clayton Kershaw is a three-time Cy Young award winner and the reigning NL MVP, and it can be said that he hasn’t even been the best pitcher on the team this season. That’s because Zack Greinke currently sits at 18-3 with a 1.65 ERA after 30 starts. The right-hander leads the league in ERA, ERA+, H/9 and WHIP, adding an 8.5 WAR and an incredible eight Defensive Runs Saved.

Greinke went seven innings, allowing two runs in the Dodgers 6-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday, but remained modest after the game. “Everything was pretty good,” Greinke said. “Didn’t have the curveball, because they were hitting it hard early on, so I didn’t use it as much. Most things were working alright.”

The former AL Cy Young award winner talked more about his entire season than Friday night though. One question that was asked was if Greinke was thinking about 20 wins (he’s at 18), but once again he was humble in his answer. “I hadn’t thought about it,” he said. “It’s just one of those numbers that sounds good, but I haven’t thought about it at all.”

He doesn’t offer much in terms of his historic season either. “It seems like every month someone is making up some crazy stat,” the right-hander remarked. “It happens to other pitchers and players, too. You guys don’t have enough to talk about sometimes.”

Why people are talking about Greinke’s season is because he’s got one of the lowest ERAs in recent memory, as well as maintaining that dominance from the start of the season through Friday. He compared his season to that 2009 one where he won the Cy Young. “I guess I’m more consistent,” Greinke said.

“This is the most consistent I’ve ever been. That year I went through a rough month, kind of changed things and gave up six runs a couple of games in a row. That hasn’t happened yet this year.”

With just three starts left, it would appear that Greinke may not have that happen this season the way he’s been throwing. The right-hander also talked about the team’s recent hot streak, going 18-5 in their last 23 games. “We’ve got 40 guys on the team and they all do something good, and we’ve been using them the right way,” he said. “Whenever we go back to a normal roster it will be a little different.”

While that is true, the Dodgers seem to be playing a different style of baseball from the beginning of the season and they are starting to peak at the right time.

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Vincent Samperio

Vince is currently the Associate Editor and Social Media Manager for Dodgers Nation. Hailing from San Pedro, CA and a student at Cal State Long Beach, Vince has previously written for the Daily 49er and LASF Magazine.

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