Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zack Greinke may now miss Opening Day after leaving a spring training game with tightness in his right groin.
Greinke suffered the injury in a Wednesday game against the Cincinnati Reds. He pitched just one inning before leaving the game after feeling soreness. After that game, the 34-year-old pitcher downplayed the severity of the discomfort, saying he had simply been sore for a few days.
“You’re sore every day all year round,” Greinke said after the game. “If you worried about little things all the time then you’d never do anything. That’s kind of how I was planning for this to be. It happens all the time and usually it ends up being fine.”
Time Factor
After a re-evaluation on Thursday, the Diamondbacks made the decision to push back Greinke’s next bullpen session, which in turn would likely mean that his next spring training start will also be delayed. Add that up, and Greinke might not get in the kind of work the team would like to see before putting him on the mound for an Opening Day start.
That was enough to make Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo acknowledge that the situation was getting worrisome, at least in the short term.
“Obviously when you’re talking about potentially pushing him back and not having him ready for Opening Day, my concern level goes up,” Lovullo said. “But I know it’s a situation that’s going to be a very positive outcome.”
Velocity Concerns
Greinke is entering the third year of a six-year, $206.5 million contract with the Diamondbacks. After a disappointing first season with the club, Greinke bounced back in 2017, going 17-7 with a 3.20 ERA and earning his fourth career trip to the All-Star Game.
But there has been some concerning signs for Greinke as of late. According to data provided by FanGraphs, his average fastball velocity has dropped by about 1.5 mph over the past two seasons, down to 91.0 mph in 2017. Greinke has also seemed to struggle with his velocity so far in spring training, with most of his fastballs coming in at around 85 mph.
It is common for many pitchers to increase their velocity as they approach the start of the season, and Greinke has gone through this in other spring training campaigns as well. Still, even the pitcher acknowledged that the lack of zip on his fastball was in the back of his mind, according to a report from Nick Piecoro of azcentral.com.
“Every year, I get nervous that it’s not working good enough and that it’s not going to come fast enough,” Greinke told reporters after an early March spring training start. “I think it’s going to be ready, but in the bank of my mind I’m always a little nervous that it’s not actually going to be there and be ready by the time the season starts.”
The difference between an effective Greinke and one that can’t contribute much to the team could be huge for the Diamondbacks. While not one of the World Series favorites, they are considered a contender, with William Hill listing Arizona at 25/1 to win the championship in 2018 after making the playoffs last season. They are also a 5/1 pick to win the National League West, with their chief hurdle being the Los Angeles Dodgers (4/7), who are among the top picks to win the World Series this year.