Athletes - Zack Greinke

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	Athletes - Zack Greinke

Donald Zackary Greinke (born October 21, 1983 in Orlando, Florida) is a Major League Baseball player for the Kansas City Royals. He went to high school in Apopka, Florida. He is a right-handed pitcher, who throws a fastball topping out at 94 miles per hour; a slider; changeup; curveball; and a slow curve, which he has thrown as slow as 50 miles per hour.

After being selected out of high school (and turning down a scholarship to Clemson) in the first round of the 2002 draft, he spent the winter of 2002-2003 in the Puerto Rican League. Afterwards, he played for the Wilmington Blue Rocks and Wichita Wranglers, where he was named the Royals Minor League Pitcher of the year, and The Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year, with a 15-4 record and 1.93 ERA. Greinke made his major-league debut on May 22, 2004 against the Oakland Athletics.

He ended the 2004 season with a record of 8 wins and 11 losses (second-highest on the team, after Jimmy Gobble) and a 3.97 ERA. Greinke has been compared to future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux and Royals great Bret Saberhagen. He has sports endorsement deals with Adidas and Rawlings. However, Greinke's 2005 season was not as successful.

Pitching in the American League, Greinke rarely bats due to the designated hitter rule. Greinke's first major league hit was a home run off Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Russ Ortiz in a 12-11 loss on June 10, 2005.

Greinke recently left the Royals spring training camp for personal reasons. There is currently no word on when he will return, if at all. He is currently seeing a sports psychologist, but is said to have not lost interest in continuing to play baseball. He will likely not be ready to be put in the starting rotation once the season starts.

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