Weekly Hit Ground Ball: Greinke, Bradley and Condensed Games

It’s been another eventful week in MLB.  The previously all-conquering Marlins were swept by the Pirates, several no-hitter attempts have just fallen short, the 2009 edition of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry has begun with two epic games and Albert Pujols has continued to show why he’s currently the best player in baseball.

And the A’s just snapped a six-game losing streak, so the positivity even extends to Oakland. Hopefully good times are ahead for the green and gold. 

Glad for Greinke

Amid all of the great stories that have already been written this season, the early form of Zack Greinke ranks at the top of the list. 

Although some may accuse me of ‘fantasy team bias’, Greinke being one of my starters in the BaseballGB Head-To-Head League, even the most hard-hearted person has got to feel happy for the Royals’ pitcher.  His off-the-field problems have been well-documented, but they appear to be behind him now and Greinke’s on-the-field talent is shining through.  The right-hander’s success is all the more enjoyable for neutrals as it has come while playing for a team that has had little to cheer about in recent years.

Greinke went into his start on Friday night against the Tigers with three wins from three outings and riding a thirty-four scoreless inning streak stretching back into the end of last season.  He extended that sequence to thirty-eight innings before a throwing error by Mike Aviles allowed Gerald Laird to come home in the fifth inning. 

This single unearned run was all that Greinke would allow as he went on to pitch his second complete game in a row.  The Royals backed him with six runs of their own to improve his record to 4-0, accompanied by a 0.00 ERA.  Common sense demands that Greinke will concede some earned runs at some point.  However, watching the way he pitched against the Tigers, you would be forgiven for believing that it’s entirely possible he could last the whole season without doing so.

Baseball veterans are always keen to state that you need to get to a top pitcher early.  The Tigers were unable to follow this advice and Greinke just got better and better as the game developed.  He retired the last fifteen batters in order and did so in a way that was mesmerizing for both the Tigers’ hitters and the onlooking fans.

Greinke began by dominating with his fastball, striking out Granderson and Cabrera on 96 MPH offerings and tempting serial-hacker Brandon Inge to chase a high 97 MPH heater in the fifth inning.  Thereafter, Greinke had the Tigers chasing sliders down low time and time again.  Seven batters came to the plate combined in the seventh and eighth innings along with the lead-off batter in the ninth.  Six went down swinging at sliders viciously hurtling downwards to the dirt.   

True dominance can be found in a ballplayer that is able to impose his will on an opponent even though they know what he’s about to do. With two strikes against their name, those Tigers knew what was coming.  A slider was on the way at some point, it would be low and they wouldn’t be able to hit it.  But they couldn’t lay off the pitch.

It was a captivating performance by a pitcher who could well win a Cy Young award or two during his career.  Maybe 2009 could be his year.

Milton Bradley reverting to type

Not all players have had such an uplifting start to their season.  When the Cubs decided that Milton Bradley was the missing part in their offensive jigsaw over the offseason, several warning signs were raised about his terrific 2008 season:

• It came in a hitter’s haven: Rangers Ballpark,
• His total of 126 games was a rare occasion when he had stayed relatively healthy over a season, 
• A big part of his ability to stay in the lineup was down to the DH spot (he only started in the field in forty games), an option not available to the Cubs,
• Bradley’s reputation for failing to control his temper preceded him.

Heading into the Cards-Cubs series on 16 April, Bradley was struggling mightily at the plate and a groin injury saw him riding the pine.  With the bases loaded in the sixth inning and the game tied at 4-4, thanks to MLB.com GamedayAudio I heard the surprise and excitement in WGN broadcasters Pat and Ron’s voices as Bradley stepped up to the plate as a pinch hitter.  That excitement didn’t last long.  Bradley struck out looking and had one of his patented Milton Meltdown Moments.  The Home Plate umpire tossed him from the game and he was handed a two-game suspension.

Bradley will not accept the punishment and he has now turned his back on the beat writers and reporters, refusing to talk to anyone apart from the Cubs.com reporter. 

So, he’s not hitting well, he’s suffering with an injury and he’s at war with the press.  Apparently the Cubs didn’t see any of this coming when they gave him a three-year, $30 million contract in the offseason.

Thankfully for the Cubs, at least Kosuke Fukudome has rediscovered his batting stroke.

Condensed Games are back

Whether you want to watch a Zack Greinke start or a Kosuke Fukudome at-bat, you can now do so via the great Condensed Games feature at MLB.com.

Anyone following my Twitter account would have read me moaning more than once about the lack of Condensed Games so far this season.  They are with us at last and, as I wrote on MLBlogs.com, they came in useful yesterday morning for the latest round of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. 

Now all MLB.com needs to do is bring back the Daily Rewind and the Daily Rewind GamedayAudio podcast and I will be as happy as can be.