Zack Greinke is a man of many talents. He can virtually do it all on the mound, and he's got the confidence and bravado to execute without hesitation. His latest exploit for the Houston Astros, though, exceeds anything he's ever done, and is just so quintessentially Greinke.
Down 1 – 3 in the World Series against the Atlanta Braves, the Astros decided to put in Greinke as a pinch hitter. Yes, you read that right: Greinke, the pitcher, was put in a pinch hitter. It worked out well for the Astros: Greinke got himself a base hit after a ground ball to right field.
That hit from Greinke was big for two reasons: one, as ESPN noted, Greinke's hit was the first time in 98 years that a pitcher went to bat as a pinch hitter and got on base with a hit.
Zack Greinke is the 1st pitcher with a hit as a pinch hitter in a World Series game since Jack Bentley in 1923. pic.twitter.com/nEpeAigd9W
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 1, 2021
Two, and what is probably the more impressive stat, Greinke's hit registered at an insane 105.9 miles per hour. That, so far, has been the Astros' hardest hit on offense. Crazy.
Grienke's base hit had an exit velocity of 105.9 mph, the hardest-hit ball of the game so far for the Astros. https://t.co/M8HodVrB0K
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 1, 2021
Imagine agreeing to be a pinch hitter (in a game you're not starting to pitch!), and then just casually hitting the strongest ball out of your teammates in that game. Any pitcher would be out of their mind to even agree to pinch hit… but Greinke is just so confident in himself. Not to mention, he's actually good at hitting too!
At the time of writing, the Astros are up 7 – 5 at the top of the sixth inning, as they are looking to claw back from the big deficit they are currently on. They'll likely need Zack Greinke's contributions to do that, and as we've seen, he can contribute from ANYWHERE on the field. Even on the batter's box.
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