20-year MLB veteran working out, unsure about playing future

After 20 Major League seasons, Zack Greinke might not be ready to hang up his cleats, as the veteran right-hander has been working out at the Diamondbacks’ extended spring training camp.  As Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic writes, this isn’t any indication of a contract between Greinke and the D’Backs, as the two sides are “not believed to have had discussions about a reunion.”  Instead, the D’Backs have simply let Greinke work out at their facilities as a courtesy while he figures out the next step in his career.

That is, if there is a next step at all since Greinke was non-committal about what these workouts exactly represent.  “I don’t know if this will be my last time throwing or if I’ll throw the rest of the year and next year,” Greinke said. “I don’t really know at the moment….I’m just throwing, seeing how it works out, and going from there.”

Greinke’s most recent two-season run in Kansas City had something of the feel of a coda on his excellent career, as Greinke returned to the franchise that drafted him sixth overall in 2002.  Greinke’s first seven MLB seasons were spent in a Royals uniform and highlighted with a tremendous 2009 season that saw him win the AL Cy Young Award.  Between those two stints with the Royals, Greinke pitched for five other teams, and his 714 2/3 innings with the Diamondbacks from 2016-19 mark the most he has thrown for any organization outside of Kansas City.

His form from 2020-22 represented a step down from his front-of-the-rotation peak, but it wasn’t until last season at age 39 that Greinke finally had a sharp drop in performance.  The righty posted a 5.06 ERA over 142 1/3 innings, and apart from a still-elite 3.9% walk rate, it seemed as though Greinke’s recent recipe of low velocity and low strikeout totals caught up to him.

According to reports during the offseason, Greinke finished the 2023 campaign considering retirement, but as of December was preparing to pitch again.  However, Greinke told Piecoro that he had only started properly throwing two weeks ago and at the behest of his two sons and indicated that it had been a while since he had done any winter prep work.  “My arm feels decent at the moment.  I was trying to get as good as I could at golfing the past two months, and I was like, ’Why am I trying to be a pro golfer when I’m already kind of a pro baseball player?’  So I figured I’d throw a little and see how it goes,” Greinke said.

Since the Greinke family once again lives in Arizona, the right-hander reconnected with the Diamondbacks when his sons (who are “nonstop right now” in their interest in baseball) had interest in taking part in baseball activities on a genuine spring training field. This has snowballed into Greinke’s workouts and a recent live batting practice session against four D’Backs players on injury rehab.  Greinke faced Geraldo Perdomo, Alek Thomas, Jordan Lawler and Jorge Barrosa twice during the eight-at-bat session, leaving the opponents impressed.

“I told one of the guys I think he could still pitch in the majors….For his change-up to look like that in his first live BP, just imagine when he gets into a rhythm and is ready,” Perdomo said.

There’s still a way to go before Greinke is fully set on pursuing a return, let alone signing a contract and getting properly ramped up to the point that he can again pitch in a Major League game.  “Because it’s still early” in the process, Greinke said he hasn’t talked to his agent about exploring deals with teams.  On paper, the Diamondbacks would seem a logical candidate based on familiarity and comfort alone, plus Greinke would add a lot of veteran experience to a rotation that has lost Eduardo Rodriguez and Merrill Kelly to the 60-day IL.  Another return to Kansas City shouldn’t be ruled out, even though starting pitching has been a strength for the Royals in their sudden surge into contention.