When 2015 NL Cy Young award runner-up Zack Greinke opted out of his 6-year / $147 million contract with the Dodgers immediately following the 2015 World Series and subsequently declined their five-year / $155 million ($31 million Average Annual Value) contract extension offer, it left a very bitter taste in the mouths of most Dodgers fans. After all, Greinke was leaving a team that had won three consecutive NL West Division titles and was part of arguably the best starting rotation in all of baseball. Instead, on December 9, 2015, the 32-year-old Orlando, Florida native chose to sign with the division-rival Arizona Diamondbacks for a 6-year / $206.5 million deal ($34.42 million AAV), thus making it blatantly obvious that it was indeed all about the money for Zack Greinke.

Greinke’s opt out forced the Dodgers to begin searching for someone to fill the void created by his departure. I say fill the void instead of replace because, quite frankly, it would be impossible to replace Greinke’s 19-3 record and MLB-best 1.66 ERA. The best that they could hope for was to find someone who, when combined with Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw and three other formidable starters, could average out a “staff replacement” for Greinke’s loss. The Dodgers did so by signing (then) 27-year-old Japanese right-handed superstar Kenta Maeda on January 7, 2016.

If there is such a thing as baseball karma it landed squarely in the lap of Zack Greinke. Although he may be considered the Dbacks staff ace, he is the staff ace on a completely dysfunctional last place team that will, in all likelihood, replace its entire front office this off-season; and Dodger fans couldn’t be happier. How’d that all about the money thing work out for you, Zack?

To be fair, Greinke is actually a great guy and a good teammate. His tremendous intelligence and brutal honesty made him very popular among the Dodgers beat writers and local media. But on Monday evening Greinke proved firsthand that the Dodgers had “won the opt-out,” as one Dodgers blogger noted on Twitter.

But while most – if not all – of the attention from Monday night’s 10-2 rout of the Dbacks by the Dodgers was focused on the five home runs that Greinke allowed, the guy who the Dodgers had acquired to fill his void was absolutely sensational. In his 6.1 innings of work, Maeda allowed only one run on three hits while walking one and striking out eight. At one point he retired 18 Diamondback hitters in a row and was finally pulled by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts after having made 102 pitches of which 67 were strikes. He was, in every sense of the word, Greinke-like.

“Kenta threw the ball great,” Roberts said. “I think you could see with those hitters and their approach, sitting soft. He was effective with his fastball tonight and locating it inside, outside … kept those guys guessing and made his slider that much more effective. We tried to get through that seventh inning, but he gave us a great, great effort. Something we really needed.”

Maeda was absolutely brilliant on Monday evening, at one point retiring 18 consecutive Dback hitters.
(Photo credit – Stephen Dunn)

Of course, it’s impossible to not acknowledge the five home runs that the Dodgers hit off of their former teammate. Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez got the home run derby started in the fourth inning when he hit a (very) high fastball that was out of the strike zone – a pitch that Greinke himself was surprised that AGon was able to hit out.

“More times than not you’re going to get him out with that pitch,” Greinke told reporters after the game. “But he’s one of the few guys that can actually get to it.”

The fact that Gonzalez was even able to get a bat on Greinke’s high fastball is amazing, let alone hit it out.
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

Although it was Gonzalez’s blast that put the Dodgers on the board, it’s what the Dodgers did in the fifth inning that gave Dodger fans a sense of sweet revenge against their former fan-favorite. After a leadoff ground out by Howie Kendrick, Joc Pederson launched a Greinke fastball to straightaway center field for a solo home run; Pederson’s 20th of the season. This was followed by a bunt single by Maeda and a Chase Utley single. Corey Seager then lifted an opposite field three-run jack (his 24th) that just cleared the wall in left-center field. Justin Turner followed with a monster home run (his 25th) that landed halfway up the Left Field Pavilion. Two batters later Yasmani Grandal blasted a solo shot (his 24th) into the back of the Dbacks bullpen. It was then that Dbacks manager Chip Hale (mercifully) removed Greinke from the game after having allowed eight runs on nine hits with no walks and six strikeouts.

“Greinke’s really good. Obviously he’s been one of the best pitchers for a while,” said Seager after the game. “It’s one of those things that kind of locks you in a little more. You have to be on your game. We battled, we took some good pitches, we got into counts that were more in our favor and we put some good swings on balls.”

With the win Maeda improved his record to 14-8 while lowering his ERA to a 3.29. He now leads the Dodgers in wins (14), innings pitched (153.0) and strikeouts (156). Monday night’s win, coupled with the Giants loss to the Colorado Rockies, increased the Dodgers lead over the Hated Ones to a season-high 4.0 games with 25 games remaining in the regular season.