Zack Greinke threw his 10th career complete game Sunday against the Rays, but was handed his third loss of the season and now stands 0-3 on the year.
Greinke was spectacular as usual, fanning six batters and allowing just five base runners all day. But, yet again, he received zero run support and had his win-loss record tainted. The 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner is on pace for 214 strikeouts, just 45 walks, a 0.98 WHIP, 2.27 ERA, but also a record of 0-19. Baseball and the people who cover it have made a lot of progress in the last few years with understanding what makes a pitcher successful, but how many Cy Young votes would an 0-19 pitcher get even if all of his other stats were top-of-the-line? We might just find out. And ESPN’s Keith Law thinks he’d be left off half of all Cy ballots.
Greinke, 26, has has not registered a win in 10 career starts against the Rays. Then again, it’s probably time to throw the “win,” as a pitching stat, right out the window.