The Houston Astros will turn the ball over to starting pitcher Zack Greinke for Game 4 of the World Series against the Atlanta Braves.
This will be the third appearance for Greinke in this postseason and just his second start, as he got the starting nod against the Boston Red Sox in Game 4 of the ALCS, where he allowed two earned runs in 1.1 innings pitched.
Greinke was slated to be a key contributor for the Astros over the early stages of their postseason run, but a minor neck injury suffered in September forced the Astros to instead turn to their young pitchers to start in critical games.
Even as he has only thrown for a total of 58 pitches in this postseason, Astros manager Dusty Baker is much confident in the one-time AL Cy Young Award winner heading into this crucial game, which he touched on following Houston's Game 3 loss to Atlanta.
“If anybody knows how to pitch in a big game, it's Greinke,” Baker said.
Baker also added that he hopes Greinke will be able to give “as much quality” as he can in Game 4.
Greinke has not been lauded as one of the more proficient postseason pitchers of his era, but he has shined in must-win games before for Houston. Most notably, he posted a 2.45 ERA over 11.0 innings pitched in the Astros' 2019 World Series loss to the Washington Nationals.
Astros third baseman Alex Bregman is also much anticipating this upcoming start from Greinke in what could be the pitcher's final one with the team.
“It's super valuable to have a future Hall of Famer throwing for you,” Bregman said. “He's pitched in big situations. He's pitched great for us in the World Series before. So we have a ton of confidence in him, and we want to play good defense behind him and give him some run support.”
It remains to be seen on the managerial approach that Baker will have for this game. One could speculate that if Greinke does not end up going deep in this contest, then Cristian Javier may be called upon out of the bullpen for a multi-inning shift. Javier's last relief appearance came in Game 2 of the World Series, where he notched two strikeouts over 1.1 innings pitched.
The Astros will look to even up the series in Game 4.
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