Houston Astros pitcher Zack Greinke is a bit of a different personality. And in the wake of the Astros’ sign-steal scandal, he showed the San Francisco Giants that just because a player knows the characters – and in some cases the pitches that come – does not mean the player can always touch the field.
Greinke, who was traded to the Astros last July, shouted signs from Houston and what pitches he was hitting Wednesday night against the Giants. And he kept getting outs.
It was a strange sight.
Astros pitcher Zack Greinke called out the signs ?? pic.twitter.com/TjQpGjYUfV
– ESPN (@espn) August 13, 2020
The Astros won 5-1, with Greinke allowing only one run over 6 1/3 innings, seven runs and one run. And it is worth noting that Greinke is at least far from an average pitcher; he is a former Cy Young Award winner and a six-time All-Star. That he is definitely not an easy pitcher to ride.
And Greinke, however, was not present at the sign-stealing scandal; the investigation found that Astros players stopped at a certain point for the 2019 season, with most of the sign-stealing taking place in the 2017 season – when the Astros won the World Series – and in 2018. That it’s reason to reason that Greinke would not be happy with someone holding that signpost part of the reason for the team’s success after he joined.
With Greinke, and reporting without the sign shot, the Astros went to the 2019 World Series, falling in seven games to the Washington Nationals. Houston has an 8-10 start this year, making the Astros third in the AL West.
