Now that we are a little deeper into Spring Training ... Greinke has had mixed success, solid strikeout performance but he has been hit around a bit.
Not sure if he will make the Big Club coming out of camp. In a very peculiar contradition, the KC Star implies that he has a strong chance at one of the rotation spots. At the end of the same article there is a comment on Position Battles that notes he will likely start the season in AAA. Go figure
All other issues aside, when he was called up at 20, he was talked about in the same way we talk about, say, Cole Hamels or Jared Weaver. At the time of his debut he was touted as a Greg Maddux clone. And he's still only <b>23</b>. If you have ever seen him pitch, you can seen the raw material is there.
RugbyD wrote:smacks of bipolar or manic depression
You don't have to be "bipolar" or a "manic depressive" for your mind and body to shut down. I suffer from anxiety and depression and it got so bad at one point I could do nothing for about a week and a half except for cry and think. There are issues here and it is very good Mr. Greinke is dealing with them. I knew that there was a reason that I liked him. He needs to go to therapy, get on medication or just plain old get his mind off of work/life. The last one worked for me.
As someone who has personally - and naturally - overcome the ravages of depression, I can say without a doubt that you guys have no idea what you're talking about.
I wish I could convey the effects of depression to you, but I don't have the talent. The best description I ever heard of a truly gripping depression is in the Dave Matthews' song:
She feels like kicking out all the windows And setting fire to this life, She could change everything about her using colors bold and bright But all the colors mixed together to grey
I almost cry every time I hear that part of the song. He's dead-on there. You could take the most drastic steps, and in the end, life would still seem utterly meaningless, empty, and void. Looking back, I feel like I was dead for 10 years.
Excellent post - and you conveyed it quite well! Hopefully things work out for Greinke in life and baseball.
Still holds the MLB record for Grand Slams with 23
Zack Greinke fanned six in four scoreless innings Wednesday in a win over the Rockies.
Greinke allowed three doubles and a single, but he spaced them out well and he walked no one. He has a 4.00 ERA and an 11/0 K/BB ratio this spring. Maybe it won't win him a rotation spot out of spring training, but he's not going to stay in Triple-A for long if he begins the year there. Even the Royals' No. 2 starter, Odalis Perez, is no sure thing to still be in the rotation by mid-May.