Greinke becomes 6th to 200 wins

Zack Greinke became the 6th pitcher in DMBL history to reach 200 wins in Hillsborough's 7-2 victory over Empire City on Wednesday night.

Greinke added to his future Hall of Fame campaign in style by tossing a complete game. He allowed just 2 runs and 6 hits while striking out 4 and walking none. He did it with a tidy 98 pitches in a 7-2 triumph over the Trojans on the road.

The 38-year-old improved to 2-3 on the year, and lowered his ERA to 5.45. He posted his last W on April 4 and endured a few beatings since returning from a brief injury that cost him 10 days. With 200 wins now under his belt, Greinke will set his sights on catching Curt Schilling (205 wins) at No. 5 all-time, Pedro Martinez (207) and Roger Clemens (211). He'll have to look toward 2023 or beyond to reach Randy Johnson (230) and Greg Maddux (232).

It's not out of the realm of possibility that Greinke passes Maddux this season for most starts all time. He overtook Tom Glavine for No. 2 last season and after 6 starts in 2022, he now has 473 starts for his career. He would need to make 30 starts this season to match Maddux, 31 to overtake him, and 33 to become the first pitcher to reach 500.

Donald Zachary Greinke has been quietly moving up into the top 10, if not the Top 5 in every major career pitching category over the last few years. The Orlando, Fla. native finished the 2021 season ranked 5th all-time in ERA (3.88) and tied for first all-time in WHIP (1.23) with Max Scherzer and Pedro Martinez.

The complete game was Greinke's first since 2020 and the 41st of his career, breaking a tie with Hoboken's Clayton Kershaw for 14th on the all-time list. Next up in that category is former Vancouver teammate Roy Oswalt at No. 13, with 42 and David Cone is 12th with 43. The 9-inning outing pushed Greinke over 3,100 innings for his career; last year he joined Clemens and Maddux as the only hurlers to toss 3,000 career innings. He also ranks 4th with 19 shutouts, tied with Pedro Martinez, three behind Roy Halladay and five behind Kevin Brown.

Greinke moved past Clemens this year into 5th all-time with 2,752 strikeouts. He's likely to surpass former Hillsborough teammate Justin Verlander (2,770) for No. 4 all-time by the All-Star break but Clayton Kershaw (2,839) and Martinez (2,924) will have to wait for 2023 or later. He's also ranked 15th in win percentage (200-144, .581)

What cap Greinke dons when he enters the DMBL Hall of Fame remains somewhat of an open question. He's been protected regularly but has bounced around eight teams via trades and regularly tasting the postseason, playing in Philly, Vancouver, one season each in Bridgewater, Durham and Saskatoon, Tucson, and Empire City before returning to Philly and now in his 3rd season in Hillsborough and 16th in DMBL.

Greinke is a two-time 20-game winner: a stellar 21-3 campaign in 2010 with Vancouver that culminated in a Ben McDonald Award and in 2013 with Philly (20-6). He's reached double digits in victories in 11 of his 15 seasons. The nadir of his career were one-year stints in Saskatoon (9-19 in 2014) and Empire City (8-18 in 2017). He's reached the DMBL mountaintop two times, winning a DMBL title with the Iron First in 2008 and again in 2016 with Tucson. He's been a regular on McDonald Award ballots over the years, finishing 7th in 2020 with Hillsborough and 2nd in 2016 to then-Tucson teammate Jake Arrieta.

Greinke has had two tours and a combined three seasons with Philly, who originally drafted him as an ineligible prospect in the 6th round of the 2004 draft where he made his DMBL debut in 2005. After some time off, he was drafted in the 1st round in 2008, 6th overall, by Vancouver, where he played four seasons (2008-11) and arguably had his most success, earning 67 of his 200 wins (33.5%) and 132 of his 473 starts (28%).

Here's a look at when and who Greinke has been traded for over the years:

April 2020

Hillsborough acquired him from Philly along with a 7th rounder in exchange for OF Eloy Jimenez and a 2nd rounder. Philly used the 2nd rounder to nab 1B Jared Walsh while Hillsborough took C Pedro Severino with the 7th rounder.

Jan 2018

Empire City packaged Greinke with a 2018 6th rounder (C Omar Narvaez) and shipped him back to Philly for two relievers, Drew Pomeranz and Corey Knebel.

Nov 2016

Tucson dealt Greinke along with SP Danny Duffy and 1B Mike Napoli to Empire City for a 1st round pick in 2017, SS Elvis Andrus and Brandon Guyer. The 1st rounder ended up being No. 3 overall, which Tucson used on SP Rich Hill.

Jan 2015

In a blockbuster involving 7 players, Charlotte Webbs (who later that year would change their name to Philly Green Rage) sent Greinke with 2B Jose Altuve to Tucson (then the Durham Bulls) in exchange for a package of 1B Chris Davis, 2B Dustin Pedroia, OFs Shin-Soo Choo and Carlos Gonzalez, SP Alex Wood + a 6th rounder in 2016 (RP Antonio Bastardo).

Feb 2014

In a one-for-one deal, Bridgewater sent Greinke to Philly for OF Jay Bruce, who retired last year.

Dec 2011

Vancouver packaged Greinke with a 2012 4th rounder they obtained from New Jersey (now Hopatcong) and sent him to Bridgewater for 1B Todd Helton, 3B Ryan Zimmerman, and two other 2012 picks from other teams - 8th rounders of Hoboken (IF Jamey Carroll) and Marietta (then-prospect 3B Anthony Rendon).