When it comes to big-league pitchers, Astros ace Zack Greinke is truly one of a kind.
The 18-year vet was a high-velocity pitcher earlier in his career, especially in 2010 with the Royals where he’d throw multiple pitches at 100 mph. But as Greinke has aged, he’s taken to a more finesse approach on the mound.
He’s seen his fastball velocity drop to the 88-90 mph range, and he’s added a hilariously slow eephus pitch to his repertoire.
Greinke threw an eephus just twice in the shortened 2020 season, but on Monday, he broke out the pitch for the first time in 2021. It was a glorious, 51 mph pitch that was called for a strike against Detroit’s Renato Núñez.
The pitch was even better when you see it in a side-by-side video with his 100 mph fastball from 2010.
Zack Greinke, 51mph vs. Zack Greinke,100mph. pic.twitter.com/hPUOke0rD4
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 13, 2021
Amazing.
You basically have time to watch the 100 mph pitch and then turn your focus to the eephus video before the ball reaches the glove. It was that slow.
That’s a 49 mph difference in velocity, and they both went for strikes. It doesn’t get much better than that.
