Zack Grienke: The Best Pitcher In MLB?

Zack Greinke is one heck of a story. He has experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.

Greinke was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the first round (second overall) in the 2002 amateur draft.

All seemed well for Zack especially after the 2003 season when he went 15-4 with a 2.83 ERA between class A+ and AA.

The next season after starting in class AAA Omaha he made his Major League debut at the age of 19. In that season he went 8-11 with a 3.97 ERA and was named the teams pitcher of the year.

In his first full season with the Royals, he found himself with a 5-17 record with a 5.80 ERA. It seemed like every outing he found himself always in pitching trouble and never really broke out of his slump that whole year.

Then in '06 everything fell apart. He ended up leaving spring training to go to a psychologist in Florida. It did not look good at all for Zack. But, he was able to recover and eventually found himself back in KC as he pitched in the bullpen.

The next year he pitched a lot in the bullpen but did start 14 games. He ended the '07 season with a 7-7 record with a 3.69 ERA.

Then this last year he showed what kind of pitcher he was to become. He ended up going 13-10 with a 3.47 ERA. Sure, 13-10 doesn't seem that great but we have to consider the lack of run support Greinke got and was still able to post a winning record even though the team didn't.

Now we find ourselves to this season, and what a season it has been so far for Greinke! In four starts he has gone 4-0 with a 0.00 ERA. He has pitched 29 innings without giving up an earned run!

An error by shortstop Mike Aviles caused Greinke's first run to score. But, it is unearned, so his ERA stays at 0.00.

This brings me back to my original question. Is Greinke the best pitcher in baseball? It may be too early to tell, but if he pitches half of what he is pitching now the answer is a no brainer, yes.

I think as of right now Greinke is right up there with the ace's such as Josh Beckett, CC Sabathia, Johan Santana, etc...But I know one thing, none of those pitchers are 4-0 0.00 ERA.

If Zack continues to pitch as he is now he will definitely move past them.

The scariest part about this is he is only 25 years old!