BIOGRAPHY
Donald Zackary Greinke was born on October 21, 1983, in Orlando, Florida. He is a starting pitcher in the MLB.
The Royals selected Greinke in the first round of the 2002 MLB draft, after he won the Gatorade National Player of the Year Award as a high school senior. After playing in the minor leagues, he made his MLB debut in 2004. In 2007 as a relief pitcher, before rejoining the starting rotation in 2008 and developing into one of the top pitchers in the game. In 2009, he appeared in the MLB All-Star Game, led the major leagues in earned run average, and won the American League Cy Young Award. He is a six-time All-Star, and six-time Gold Glove Award winner.
In 2019 with the Astros he was 8–1 with a 3.02 ERA. Between the two teams, in 2019 he was 18–5 with a 2.93 ERA, as in 208.2 innings (sixth in the majors) over 33 starts he walked only 30 batters (1.3 walks per nine innings, the best ratio of his career and third-best in the major leagues), and had a WHIP of 0.982 (fifth-best in the major leagues). At the plate, he batted .280/.308/.580 with three home runs and eight RBIs in 50 at bats. Greinke started Games 3 and 7 of the 2019 World Series for Houston.
He entered Game 5 of the 2021 World Series as a pinch-hitter and recorded a hit, being the first pitcher to have a pinch hit in a World Series game since Jack Bentley of the New York Giants in 1923.
In 2010 after winning the CY Young award, Greinke said "I've only kept one award in my whole life, and it's the coolest thing ever,". "Mizuno gave me a samurai sword for winning the Cy Young. It's awesome."
