The Houston Astros rocked the MLB landscape on Wednesday afternoon, swooping in to acquire right-handed starting pitcher Zack Greinke from the Arizona Diamondbacks ahead of the 4 p.m. ET trade deadline. After the Astros made the move, Houston righty Justin Verlander took to Twitter to post his thoughts:
Wow… that escalated quickly! 🔥🔥🔥 @astros
— Justin Verlander (@JustinVerlander) July 31, 2019
Obviously, this is a huge power shift in the American League, as the Astros will now have a starting rotation that consists of Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and Greinke, a fearsome trio that rivals the pitching staff Houston rode to a World Series title in 2017.
Through 22 starts this season, Greinke has gone 10-4 with a 2.87 ERA, allowing 115 hits while striking out 128 batters over 141 innings of work. He also owns a league-best 0.943 WHIP.
Greinke was originally selected by the Kansas City Royals with the sixth overall pick of the 2002 MLB Draft and made his big-league debut in 2004, going 8-11 with a 3.97 ERA while surrendering 143 hits and fanning 100 hitters across 145 frames of action.
The 35-year-old went on to spend the first seven years of his career with the Royals, making one All-Star team and nabbing the American League Cy Young award in 2009 after going 16-8 with an MLB-best 2.16 ERA, giving up 195 hits while registering 242 punch-outs through 229.1 innings.
Greinke was then traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in December 2010, where he would ultimately spend a year-and-a-half before being dealt to the Los Angeles Angels. He resided with the Angels for a half of a season and then signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in December 2012, where he had arguably the best run of his career, including a 2015 campaign in which he paced baseball with a 1.66 ERA.
The Orlando native then signed with the Diamondbacks, where he had resided since 2016 before being dealt to Houston on Wednesday.
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