USA TODAY International Edition
D’BACKS STARS BOUNCE BACK
After disappointing in 2016, Goldschmidt, Greinke rolling along
DENVER The list of disappointments from the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 2016 season is long, and on it somewhere are the names Zack Greinke and Paul Goldschmidt. Neither would be at the top, neither at the bottom. But both players came away from last year with bad tastes in their mouths. Both thought this year would be better.
The Diamondbacks are less than five weeks into their season, but so far both are right. The two played key roles in a victory on Friday night against the Colorado Rockies, Goldschmidt slamming a pair of homers and Greinke pitching effectively for seven innings in a 6- 3 win.
A year ago, Greinke and Goldschmidt started their seasons in uncharacteristic fashion. In the middle of May, Greinke carried an ERA north of 5.00 while Goldschmidt had a batting average in the .220s.
But this year, the two are big reasons why the Diamondbacks entered Saturday with an 18- 13 record and playing like the team many thought they would be last season. Greinke is again pitching like an ace, diminished velocity be damned, and Goldschmidt’s production has returned to its MVP- caliber levels.
Friday, they did what they normally do at Coors Field. Goldschmidt hit a solo homer to center in the first, then lined a three- run homer just inside the left- field foul pole in the third, both shots coming off Rockies right- hander German Marquez. Counting his home run in the ninth inning Thursday afternoon in Washington, it gave Goldschmidt homers in three consecutive at- bats.
“He’s such a humble man, he’s not going to predict anything or talk about things like that,” manager Torey Lovullo said, when told Goldschmidt said he didn’t expect a power surge might be coming. “But he’s got a great ap- proach, and he’s got that in him, and I think he can beat you in so many ways, and today is just a case of him hitting two home runs and helping us win the game.”
Goldschmidt also singled and walked, finishing with five RBI. His numbers entering Saturday — .330 average, .470 on- base percentage, .594 slugging percentage — more closely resemble the production he logged from 2013 to 2015, when he rated among baseball’s best hitters.
In 45 games at Coors, Goldschmidt owns a .313/. 409/. 542 line ( batting average/ on- base percentage/ slugging percentage) with eight homers in 179 at- bats, typically strong numbers for a good hitter in a good hitter’s park. But Greinke, too, continued his success at Coors Field, a place where he doesn’t exactly enjoy going to work.
“No,” he said, “I hate pitching here. It’s really tough.”
And yet in eight career starts, his teams are 6- 2 and Greinke has yet to take a loss, owning a morethan- respectable 4.03 ERA.
“There’s just a lot of good things for hitting here and a lot of bad things for pitching,” he said.
His strong performance was his latest in a season featuring only one subpar start. In seven starts, he has a 3.09 ERA. He has five quality starts ( at least six innings, three earned runs or few- er), including four in a row.
Greinke has not put a finger on what went wrong during his rough stretches last season, believing his results never fully aligned with the way he pitched. But he attributes his success this year to two things: how he’s locating his fastball and his improved slider, a pitch he has been throwing harder than last year.
“My fastball command has been pretty good,” he said. “My slider has been as good as it’s been in a long time. Maybe the defense has gotten better and it’s making things smoother? I don’t know. I feel like I have been making better pitches. The results are better. Everything has been better.”
The slider was especially good against the Rockies. He threw the pitch 31 times and induced 10 swings- and- misses.
“Zack painted the slider down and away to the right- handed hitters, painted the fastball away to right- handed hitters,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “He had good command of those two pitches, brought the change- up into play in the sixth and seventh innings. Typical- type Greinke game where he located the ball, changed speeds. He does those things on a regular basis.”