Zack Greinke, Emerging Fantasy Baseball Ace

Once an elite prospect Zack Greinke (left in 2003 Bowman Heritage baseball card) has started to deliver more than expected for fantasy baseball players. He came up in 2004 with a sub-4 ERA and sub-1.2 WHIP over 145 innings at the tender age of 20. That’s right, at 20 years old he pitched 2/3s of a season of quality baseball for a garbage organization. A sophomore slump and an emotional leave of absence later and he was forgotten about as an uber-prospect. He came back last year and after starting in the pen was very solid in the rotation down the stretch.

On a personal level I can’t be happier that Greinke has been able to manage his problems. Millions of people have emotional anxiety/depression related problems and it’s tough for everyone to deal with – let alone someone who has to pitch at the major league level – I’m thrilled for him!

This year I picked him up for $1 in the end game in my beer league. Greinke started out the season off the charts but got pounded for 6,3, 8 and 4 runs in consecutive starts. Apparently this was just a rough patch as Greinke has been good for only 1 earned run in his last 2 starts over 14 innings to go along with 12 Ks. Overall he’s on pace for a sub-3.5 ERA, a sub-1.25 WHIP, and roughly 170 strike outs – a great fantasy baseball guy to buy if someone’s looking to unload.

Buy Zack Greinke baseball cards on eBay!