Zack Greinke has played 17 seasons in the big leagues, and he remains one of baseball’s more fascinating characters.
From his brutal honesty to teammates to him actually calling out pitches to the hitter, it’s difficult to root against Greinke.
Sunday’s game between the Astros and Padres was no exception. It was vintage Greinke.
With Trent Grisham up to bat for San Diego, Greinke was back to calling his own pitches. After agreeing on signals with Martin Maldonado, Greinke broke out a 54 mph eephus pitch that was taken for a strike. The pitch was so slow that Grisham could be seen smiling as the ball went by him.
Just amazing.
Though players know Greinke has a SLOW eephus pitch, it’s difficult to pick up when it’s actually coming. According to Statcast, he threw 28 eephus pitches last season with an average velocity of 63.5 mph. None of them went for hits.
So, yeah, it’s awfully hard to sit on a 54 mph eephus when a 90 mph pitch on the corner immediately follows.
In that situation, all you can really do is smile.
