Zack Greinke can be a difficult guy to read, but he sounded like someone who was decidedly dejected last week.
Greinke saw his road winless streak extend to 25 games Friday in a loss to the Rays, the top team in the American League and manager Matt Quatraro’s former team.
The 39-year-old hurler finished May strong, but has since been trending in the wrong direction throughout June. He lasted just 4 2/3 innings in the loss to the Rays, surrendering seven runs on nine hits with just three strikeouts.
There never was the expectation for Greinke to be in vintage form this season, but he’s struggling to limit damage. He sounded beaten down by the losses after the Rays game, saying, “I never feel like I’m completely in control anymore. The stuff is just not nasty enough for that to be the case.”
The Royals haven’t won a game that Greinke has started since May 8. But Quatraro said Wednesday in his weekly appearance on Fescoe in the Morning that Greinke is in a good place heading into Thursday’s matchup against Cleveland.
“That was a very frustrating game for Zack,” Quatraro said of the loss to the Rays. “That was a good lineup and he didn’t have his best day, nor did we behind him. And then when you leave the game and it’s still close and the inherited run scores, then it makes it look worse, and then he feels worse.
“By no means is he defeated, he’s a super competitive guy. I’ve had conversations with him since that game – he’s himself. He’s ready to go for tomorrow,. But yeah, at the end of that night that was a frustrating game for him and for us. Everybody that’s in that locker room cares about the outcome and what’s going on, and they take a lot of pride in what they’re doing. It’s probably just the raw emotion of how he felt after that game.”
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