Zack Greinke

Donald Zackary Greinke (/ˈɡreɪnki/ GRAYN-kee; born October 21, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. Greinke last played for the Kansas City Royals, with whom he played across two stints, from his 2004 debut to 2010, and from 2022 to 2023. Greinke also played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Houston Astros, where he finished as a runner-up in the 2019 and 2021 World Series. Greinke is considered to be one of the greatest pitchers of his generation.

The Royals selected Greinke in the first round with the sixth pick of the 2002 MLB draft, after he won the Gatorade National Player of the Year Award as a high school senior. After playing in the minor leagues, he made his MLB debut in 2004. His career was nearly derailed by his battles with depression and anxiety in 2005 and 2006, and he missed most of the 2006 season. He returned in 2007 as a relief pitcher, before rejoining the starting rotation in 2008 and developing into one of the top pitchers in the game. In 2009, he appeared in the MLB All-Star Game, led the major leagues in earned run average, and won the American League Cy Young Award.

Following his first stint with the Royals, Greinke played for the Brewers, Angels, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and Astros across 2011 to 2021. During this time, Greinke was known for his streak of six consecutive Gold Glove Awards from 2014 to 2019, as well as his second league-leading earned run average in 2015 with the Dodgers.

A dedicated competitor often described as unique in his talent and demeanor by teammates, Greinke is a six-time All-Star, six-time Gold Glove Award winner, two-time Silver Slugger Award winner, two-time earned run average leader, and an American League Cy Young Award recipient.

Greinke is one of only five pitchers (Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, and Roger Clemens) to strike out 1,000 different batters, with his 1,000th strikeout coming against Joey Wiemer on May 14, 2023.