SURPRISE, Ariz. — On opening day, the Kansas City Royals will hand the ball to one of the three pitchers in franchise history who’ve won a Cy Young Award: Zack Greinke.
Greinke will start the season opener against the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday, April 7 at Kauffman Stadium, Royals manager Mike Matheny announced following Wednesday’s spring training game.
“This decision was made the day we met, before he even signed here,” Matheny said. “It was very clear to him the expectations of what he was going to do for this club. I told him, as soon as we get the green light, we’ll rewrite what it looks like for opening day because you’re the guy that we want out there. It’s the right guy, and I know our fans are going to be excited about it too.”
Greinke, who earlier this month returned to the organization that drafted him, has started two Cactus League games during spring training. His second start came on Monday, which lined him up perfectly to pitch on opening day on regular rest.
“Ideally, probably throw as much as you can the next time,” Greinke said on Monday. “Maybe 85 pitches or something, and I hope to throw more innings than I did today. Then be ready to go around that (much) again the next time out.”
During his previous 18 years in the majors, Greinke compiled a 219-132 record with a 3.41 ERA, 2,809 strikeouts, a 3.95-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 1.16 WHIP in 3,110 innings. Along with his Cy Young Award, he won six Gold Gloves, two ERA titles and made six All-Star teams.
Royals pitcher Brad Keller has started two of the past three season openers for the club. In 2020, he was not on the active roster to start the season because he contracted COVID-19.
The day the Royals signed Greinke, Keller told The Kansas City Star, “Obviously, He’s going to be the leader of this staff. Experience alone throws him at the top. It’s going to be exciting.”
Greinke’s last opening day start for the Royals came on April 5, 2010. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner at the time, he started against the Detroit Tigers and ace starter Justin Verlander.
Greinke allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits and one walk in six innings for a no decision in an 8-4 loss. The Royals’ starting lineup that day included David DeJesus in right field, Billy Butler at first base, Rick Ankiel in center field and Jason Kendall at catcher.
The Royals drafted Greinke out of high school in Apopka, Fla., with the sixth pick in the 2002 MLB draft. He made his major league debut in 2004 and remained a Royal through the 2010 season.
He won the Cy Young in 2009 when he went 16-8 with a 2.16 ERA. He joined Bret Saberhagen (1985, 1989) and David Cone (1994) as the only Royals to win the award.
In seven major league seasons with the Royals, Greinke went 60-67 with a 3.82 ERA, 931 strikeouts, 280 walks and a 1.26 WHIP in 1,108 innings (210 games, 169 starts).
Greinke still ranks among the franchise career leaders in starts (ninth, 169), strikeouts (eighth, 931) and fewest walks per 9 innings (third, 2.27) among other categories.
The Royals traded him along with Yuniesky Betancourt and cash to the Milwaukee Brewers for Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress and Jake Odorizzi in December 2010.
Cain and Escobar were core members of the back-to-back World Series teams for the Royals in 2014 and 2015, while Odorizzi went to the Rays as part of a trade that acquired two more key members of their playoff runs in pitchers Wade Davis and James Shields.
After leaving Kansas City, Greinke pitched for the Brewers, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks and Houston Astros.
In his career, Greinke has gone 37-30 with a 3.49 ERA in 114 games (94 starts) at Kauffman Stadium. He has pitched in that ballpark more than any other venue in the majors.
“He kind of asked when we were meeting that first time, ‘What do you see as my role here?’ I told him you’re throwing the first day,” Matheny said. “You need to hear anything else? That should say it all.”
