Is He Hot, or is He Just That Good?

You may have heard this a time or two on ESPN or maybe you have seen the Sports Illustrated cover declaring that Zack Greinke is "The Best Pitcher in Baseball." Monday night he threw his third complete game, two of which have been shutouts (the opponent got him for an unearned run in the other), in a game against the visiting Chicago White Sox.

The next morning when I started up the car, the sports radio guys were talking about how hot Greinke is right now. The first pitcher in the league to record his sixth win. He is currently the owner of a 0.40 ERA. I just checked the stats page on MLB.com and verified that he has also struck out a total of 54 batters so far this year. He's leading the league in all three of those categories. And, he's doing it in the American League, where you don't get an automatic strikeout every ninth batter when the opposing pitcher comes to bat. So, when I heard the statement on the radio that Zack is 'hot' right now, I wondered, "Is he hot, or he is just that good?"

The best answer is probably a little of both. Yes, he is on fire, but you had better believe that he really is that good. And here's one at-bat I saw in his game Monday that shows why:

Alexi Ramirez was at the plate. In light of Zack's second pitch, I did a little research to see if the two had any history. Looks like last year Ramirez was 2-9 off of Zack, but one of the two hits was a homerun. Maybe he showboated when he hit it. Maybe Zack chose Ramirez because he's smaller than other guys on the team like Thome, Konerko, and Pierzynski. Whatever his reasons, after missing on the first pitch with a big curveball, the second pitch was high, tight, and very hard, which put Ramirez into a very uncomfortable-looking yoga position on the ground in the batter's box. For just a split second I thought that the fastball had gotten away from him, slipped out of his hand or something. But then I remembered that this was Zack Greinke. I had seen him pitch earlier in the season and I knew that was no mistake. It was a purpose pitch. I've always had the impression that Zack dislikes the White Sox. Buzzing Alexi Ramirez's tower sent a message. And so did the next three pitches. His third pitch was another big curve ball over the outside corner. Ramirez took it for strike one. The 2-1 pitch was one more curve ball, but this one was on the inside corner and Ramirez's knees buckled as he saw it float by for strike two. The next pitch Zack threw was a nasty slider that ended up way low and way outside, but Ramirez's feeble attempt at the offering was strike three.

I saw that at bat while I was at the gym Monday evening, and just shook my head. This guy is really that good. He is not messing around any more. Early in his career he tried to fool guys, throwing 50mph curve balls and trying to place perfect 90mph fastballs knee-high on the corners. Now, he's dialing up his fastball in the mid- to upper-90s, and making guys look silly throwing his hard slider.

In honor of the fast approaching Zack-Mania about to hit the greater Kansas City area, I've created this cell phone wallpaper. If you'd like one for your phone, let me know which model you have in the comments, leave your email address and I'll send you one that is just the right size. You can click on the picture below for the actual wallpaper.