Pitching Style
Greinke throws six pitches:
- Four-seam fastball — 92–96 mph
- Two-seam fastball — 91–95 mph
- Cutter — 87–91 mph
- Slider — 82–86 mph
- Curveball — 68–77 mph
- Changeup — 85–87 mph
His two-seamer is his most-used pitch against right-handed hitters and is used more frequently than against lefties, as is his slider. His changeup is only thrown to left-handed hitters. Greinke's curveball is typically used early in the count, while his slider is his most common 2-strike pitch.
In the time since PITCHf/x began tracking pitch data, Greinke's slider has produced impressive results. Hitters have only a .154 batting average and .230 slugging percentage against the pitch. It has produced 51% of his strikeouts, exceeding the 39% it composes of his 2-strike pitch total. Its whiff rate is 42% over this span, and more than half the pitches put in play are ground balls.
Greinke has produced good strikeout-to-walk ratios throughout his career, finishing in his league's top 10 four times. As of September 11, 2012 (2012 -09-11), Greinke ranks 10th among active pitchers in the category, at 3.5:1.
He also uses effective pitching mechanics, allowing him to disguise his pitches well and delay pitch recognition by the hitter.
Read more about this topic: Zack Greinke
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