Struggling Greinke: Don't ask about my velocity

There's still three weeks to go until Zack Greinke takes the ball on Opening Day, but the Arizona Diamondbacks ace is already tired of answering questions about his stuff - or lack thereof.

Greinke, who struggled through an injury-plagued first season in the desert last year after surprisingly joining the club, has made only two Cactus League appearances this spring and has displayed a notable decline in velocity. He was roughed up by Mexico's World Baseball Classic squad in an exhibition game last week; during that start, his fastball topped out at 89.5 mph, according to Nick Piecoro of AZCentral.com.

On Monday, Greinke pitched to Arizona's minor leaguers and did top 90 mph three times in his first inning - but failed to hit that number again the rest of the way. Following the outing, in which he allowed just a pair of hits in five innings of work, the former Cy Young winner became defensive when asked if he was concerned about the declining velocity.

"I don't know," Greinke said after Monday's outing, according to Piecoro. "I mean, the first time, it's an interesting story. I'm not going to answer velocity questions every time the whole season. I mean, you've got to pick and choose your times you ask me about that."

The velocity issues, despite Greinke's advancing age, have not gone unnoticed around baseball. One scout who watched his outing against Mexico told Piecoro that the 33-year-old's "stuff has taken a dip even since last year." The D-Backs seem to see things differently, though, as pitching coach Mike Butcher noted in his positive assessment of Greinke's spring.

"To be honest with you, I think he's right where he needs to be at this point in spring training," Butcher said. "I think by the time we get to where we need to be, he's going to be where he needs to be."

Greinke, the NL Cy Young runner-up in 2015, is looking to rebound from what was a career-worst 2016 campaign for the disappointing Diamondbacks.