After a stellar 2015 season in which he went 19-3 with a 1.66 ERA en route to a second-place finish in National League Cy Young Award voting, Zack Greinke left the Los Angeles Dodgers to join the Arizona Diamondbacks on a record-setting six-year contract in free agency.
The decision sent shockwaves through the baseball world as it was widely believed L.A. would step up to re-sign Greinke. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman confirmed two years ago that the organization came close to doing so until Arizona increased their offer to $206.5 million, which at the time set an MLB record for average annual value ($34.42 million).
By signing with the Diamondbacks and remaining in the NL West, Greinke ensured that he would be seeing his former teammates plenty of times over the lifetime of his contract.
During a recent appearance on Instagram Live with Dodgers reporter David Vassegh, Andre Ethier revealed that Greinke joked he could get him out every time, similar to conversations once had with Joc Pederson:
“Same thing to me. He’s like, ‘I could get you out every time.’ I’m like, ‘How’s that?’ (He said), ‘I’ll just throw cutters up and in. You’ll never get to them.’ I’m like, ‘Just with one pitch?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, I just have to throw one pitch to you over and over again.’ I’m like, ‘I like that.’”
While Greinke’s comments were made in jest, he does hold the upper hand in head-to-head meetings with Ethier. The outfielder hit just .222/.364/.222 with a pair of singles in 11 career plate appearances against Greinke.
Greinke’s brutal honesty previously led to a humorous exchange between he and A.J. Ellis when the right-hander noted he would trade the catcher to improve the team. During his final season with the Dodgers in 2015, Greinke also told Pederson he was an “easy out.”
Turner used advice from Greinke to adjust batting stance
Greinke’s candid feedback — though harsh at times — proved beneficial to Justin Turner, who credited the six-time All-Star for helping him adjust his batting stance halfway through the 2014 season.
The change led to a power surge for Turner as he averaged 21 home runs during the 2015-19 seasons. After hitting only four during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, the 37-year-old tied a career high with 27 homers last season.
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