"After seeing it today, I wouldn't expect it to be great next outing, and the outing after that," Greinke said after allowing three runs over 3.1 innings. "The next outing after that I would hope to be close to be where I'm happy with where I'm at, and hopefully get better the next couple of outings until then, but there wasn't much good stuff to say about today."
Greinke allowed two runs in the first inning despite retiring the first two men he faced, and it could've been worse had George Springer not made a leaping catch at the centerfield wall to end the inning. He retired the side in order in the second, but walked two in a scoreless third. He faced two hitters in the fourth inning, with a Tim Lopes ending his day on his 58th pitch.
"The first thing my stuff fell okay, but I threw too many pitches that were hittable over too much of the plate, and then the second inning felt okay, and then the third inning started getting tired and all (my) stuff got a lot worse."
The 36-year old got behind during the Astros three-week summer camp when his first simulated game start was cancelled after the Astros pitchers missed a workout due to a possible Covid-19 exposure. He threw a 67-pitch bullpen on July 13 and started a simulated game later that week. He did not travel with the Astros to Kansas City, instead throwing a simulated game at Minute Maid Park while the team played the Royals. Greinke said then all his pitches felt good, he was just concerned about his endurance which is what he blamed for Sundays poor performance.
"I'm as confident as can be," Greinke said. "There's no injuries or strange soreness or anything. It's just typical early spring training outing where it's just not that good."
Poor starts to the season are nothing new for Greinke. Last season as a member of the Diamondbacks he was touched up for seven runs over 3.2 innings, allowing four home runs in a loss to the Dodgers. He recovered to finish with a 2.68 ERA over his final 32 regular season starts, and he doesn't see any reason why that can't happen in 2020.
"I feel pretty strong, so I'm going to keep doing the work, and I'm highly confident that in a couple outings (his stuff) will be sharp again. I'm not going to say best pitcher in baseball, but I would hope I could be close to or the same as last year in a couple starts from now."