By Jordan Long
The Kansas City Royals finished the 2022 season at 65-97, down from 2021 when they won 74 games. Despite the poor finish, the Royals re-signed pitcher Zack Greinke.
Greinke pitched last year for the Royals. He wasn’t the dominant pitcher he once was. Greinke finished with a record of 4-9. His ERA ended at 3.68. Those are not the numbers he wanted to put up. The Royals were also expecting a much better pitcher.
Greinke wasn’t able to command the strike zone like he wanted to. He gave up 27 walks, far too many. With that inability, hitters waited for him to make a mistake and throw the ball where they could smack it for home runs, giving up 14.
Once the season was over, Greinke was going to think about his MLB future. It wouldn’t have been the worst idea for him to leave the game of baseball. Greinke had already won 223 games at the MLB level. The only thing missing is a World Series ring.
Greinke took his time. He decided to come back to play one more year with Kansas City. This was the first team he played for when he made his MLB debut. It lasted from 2004 to 2010. In 2011 he went to Milwaukee. Last year was his first in a Royals’ uniform since 2010.
Greinke agreed to a 1-year, $8 million contract to stay with the Royals. It will mark his 20th year in MLB. At 39 years old, Greinke is getting up in age for a pitcher. Greinke will add to the pitching rotation which includes Jordan Lyles, Ryan Yarbrough, and Brady Singer. The Royals are expecting that rotation to improve the Royals in the standings.
This might be Greinke’s last year at the MLB level. Of course, the storybook ending would be to win a World Series. It might not happen. Either way though, Greinke needs to be able to improve his numbers from last year. Kansas City will begin Spring Training on February 15th when pitchers and catchers report. The regular season starts on March 30th when they host the Minnesota Twins.
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