With the Twins and Tigers battling for the AL Central title, the Yankees haven’t said whom they would rather play in the ALDS next week, but arguably the best pitcher in the majors had a pretty clear answer for them.
“I can’t figure it out,” Royals ace Zack Greinke said yesterday before the Yankees’ 4-3 comeback win. “I didn’t think Detroit’s pitching would do as good as it did as long as it did. They got three guys who could pitch good in the playoffs for them, and the Twins don’t really have [Justin] Verlander or [Edwin] Jackson or [Rick] Porcello.”
If Greinke is surprised by how well Detroit has done up to this point, he would understand how much of baseball feels about him. The young right-hander has been perhaps the majors’ most unexpected Cy Young candidate, going 16-8 with a league-leading 2.08 ERA.
“I haven’t seen [Greinke] pitch and I wanted to,” CC Sabathia said. “At the beginning of the year, a bunch of guys were talking and he was my pick to win the Cy Young eventually, but I didn’t know it was going to be this year.”
Greinke admitted that he hasn’t enjoyed the season as much as he would like because the Royals are trying to stay out of last place in the AL Central. And though he listed many of the organization’s shortfalls yesterday, he also expressed a desire to stay with it rather than go somewhere else with a better chance of reaching the postseason.
“It’s not as fun because there’s nothing really to play for,” Greinke said. “I don’t want to pitch for New York in the playoffs. I want to pitch for Kansas City in the playoffs.”
Greinke knows that’s not likely to happen anytime soon, so he’ll have to continue putting up terrific numbers in relatively meaningless games. Even entering this year, Greinke himself didn’t expect to contend for the award.
“I always think of Roy Halladay and Johan Santana really when I think about it,” said Greinke, 25, who has battled Social Anxiety Disorder. “Every year, they put up ridiculous numbers.”
This year, it’s his turn.