Greinke tempers expectations after remarkable year
Zack Greinke will earn the second-highest salary in baseball for the upcoming season, however, the new Arizona Diamondbacks ace doesn't think he can necessarily replicate last year's dominant performance.
Greinke threw his first official bullpen session for the D-Backs on Friday before seemingly joking with a large swarm of media that his best outings are now behind him.
"I don't think you can build on it," he told reporters regarding his 19-3 record and 1.66 ERA last season. "It's about as good as it's going to be for me. I'm probably not that good. Last year, what I did for the most part, and what I hope to do this year, is think about one pitch at a time, make it as good as I can. If I make a bad pitch, then think about the next pitch and make that pitch as good as I can, and do it like that for a full season, and hopefully the results take care of themselves."
Along with his stellar ERA, Greinke also posted a MLB-best 0.84 WHIP and accumulated 9.3 WAR in 32 starts in 2015. He ranked second in NL Cy Young voting, falling just short of Chicago Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta for the crown.
Greinke, 32, penned a six-year, $206.5-million deal with Arizona that will pay him $32 million per year through his age-37 season.