I remember it as if it were yesterday – It was Sunday, December 9, 2012 and I was sitting in my car in the parking lot of my neighborhood Cold Stones enjoying a strawberry cheesecake ice cream listening to a replay of MLB Network’s ‘Inside Pitch’ with Casey Stern and Jim Bowden. The two radio show hosts were interviewing Angels manager Mike Scioscia at the Winter Meetings in Nashville about the possible signing of former Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke by the Dodgers. Again, this was a replay so there was no way for Scioscia, Stern or Bowden to know that the (then) record 6-year/$147 million deal had already happened, pending Greinke’s physical.

During the interview Scioscia said something that immediately caught my attention, something that I had never before heard about Greinke – “Zack Greinke loves to hit,” said Scioscia.

“Zack Greinke loves to hit,” says Angels Manager Mike Scioscia.
(Photo credit – Jeff Gross)

As you might imagine, I found this extremely interesting because interleague play had already concluded when the Angels acquired Greinke just prior to last year’s July 31 trade deadline. This meant that Greinke never had an at bat while wearing an Angels uniform. I could only assume that Greinke must have taken some batting practice and this is where Scioscia found out about Zack’s love of hitting.

When I got home, I immediately began researching Greinke’s hitting stats on Baseball-Reference.com. Sure enough, Zack had zero at bats while with the Angels. He did, of course, bat when he was with the Milwaukee Brewers and during interleague play when he was with the Kansas City Royals. What I found was that Greinke had a rather pitcher-like career batting average of .169. He did, however, have 3 home runs and 5 doubles during his (then) nine-year MLB career.

Okay, now my interest was really piqued – so much so that when I received the media advisory for Greinke’s introductory press conference at Dodger Stadium, I decided that I would ask him if Mike Scioscia’s claim that he “loves to hit” was true.

“I used to,” answered Greinke when I asked him the question. “I went to Milwaukee and loved to hit there, but when you focus on hitting it takes away from your ability to pitch, so as time went on, I had to give that up.

“When the time comes for me to go up to the plate I feel good but I don’t really think about it like I used to. It would be nice if I could [hit] but it takes away from my pitching so I’m not going to do that.”

During Greinke’s introductory press conference he said that he no longer focuses on hitting. Sorry Zack, I ain’t buying it. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Well that was rather anti-climatic, I thought to myself.

So why all of this talk about Zack Greinke’s hitting? Well, Greinke just so happens to be hitting .370 (10 for 24) with one double, 2 RBIs, 3 walks and 3 strikeouts in the 13 games he has started for the Dodgers. It sure looks to me as though  Greinke didn’t “give that up” after all. In fact, during Monday night’s 6-1 win over the first place Arizona Diamondbacks, Greinke went 3 for 3 with a sacrifice bunt and a run scored.

Dodgers starting pitchers have a hitting competition among themselves and Zack Greinke with his .370 average is leading – by a very wide margin.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

And it gets better.

Greinke pitched 7 strong shutout innings, allowed only 2 hits, struck out 7 and walked 2. He made a total of 102 pitches and when he returned to the dugout after pitching the bottom of the 7th, and with his spot do up second, Dodger manager Don Mattingly let him bat even though it had already been decided that Greinke would not pitch the 8th… and it worked! Greinke singled up the middle for his third hit of the night. Granted, when you’re up 6-0 in the 8th inning, you’ve got a little wiggle room and there is no doubt that had the game been closer Mattingly would have pinch hit for Greinke, but it wasn’t and he didn’t and the outcome was… well, fun. And even though rookie flame thrower Jose Dominguez allowed a run in the bottom of the 9th, the Dodgers still won handily.

Mike Scioscia was right – Zack Greinke loves to hit.

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UPDATED: August 17, 2015 at 7:45 am (PT)

During Sunday’s exciting 2-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds, Dodgers center fielder Joc Pederson and Zack Greinke hit back-to-back home runs on consecutive pitches. Greinke’s 409-footer, which just cleared the wall in left-center field at Dodger Stadium, proved to be the game-winner for the Dodgers. It was Greinke’s third home run as a Dodger and his second of the season – two behind Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner who, coincidentally, also homered on Sunday afternoon. Greinke is now 12 for 53 (.226) on the season with one double to go along with his two home runs.