Thursday, April 10, 2008

Comeback Kid!

Not two years ago, once Royals top prospect Zack Grienke was out of baseball for psychological issues. I know it sounds childish, but he was suffering from a social anxiety disorder and was having trouble working with others. At the time, it was very sad for everyone who knew the young pitcher. Grienke was being compared to Greg Maddux, among others, but couldn't put it all together. However, he found his groove as a reliever this past season and developed the confidence to move back into the rotation. Grienke dominated the Yankees tonight going eight strong innings, improving his record to 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA and 5 strikeouts.

Is Grienke back? I would say so. Hitters are hitting just .211 off him, and he is using his slider and curveball effectively. He is painting the corners well also, but his fastball lacks the movement that other solid pitchers have. His fastball has not had much movement on it, but if he can hide it a little better, the best will definitely be ahead of him.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is great for this kid. I'm a Tigers fan but I am happy when this kid is out there pitching good. He dealt with his problems and is now showing people the talent that he has.

Anonymous said...

I don't know if 'childish' is the best way to describe actual, diagnosed psychological problems...