I don't profess to be a Royals fan, but you've got to feel bad for Royals fans. The days of George Brett and Brett Saberhagen seem like a long long time ago and since those guys have left the Royals have sucked, sucked hard at that. Indeed, with all the losing for the last decade plus there hasn't been much to write home about in Kansas City, but it seems they finally found something, their diamond in the rough and I couldn't be happier for them and this guy right here, Zach Grienke.
I'm going to to attempt to try to rival the profilic Joe Posanksi who very skillfully profiles the cerebral pitcher, but in a nutshell Grienke has seen it all in his 25 years of life. He had been a phenom, dominating high school pitchers and the minor leagues effortlessly, coming up to the majors at the tender age of 20 and all of a sudden not interested in pitching, not interested in even throwing hard. When it was said earlier he seemed like he didn't care Zach left the game sough help and found he had social anxiety and depression. And yet he did not let it beat him but instead came back to the game more determined than ever, finishing fifth in the league in strikeouts with 183 and 10th in ERA and now he's been better than ever, starting the season tossing 43 consecutive scoreless innings via a couple shutouts, including one at the bambox in Alrington, Texas a game that I watched and could not help but be wowed by this guy, 25 years old, after all the shit he's been through to get there he looks confident, poised and utterly dominating.
I'm doing Grienke's story no justice so you should really pick up the newest copy of Sports Illustrated to really appreciate what Greinke's all about. Time will tell whether he can dominate something like this for the rest of the year or even a few years, but it never gets old hearing about someone so talented coming back from the edge of the abyss to emerge stronger than ever.
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