Ervin Santana and Zack Greinke, two veteran pitchers with very different approaches, appear to be heading in opposite directions.
What a difference two years makes. For veteran pitchers Ervin Santana and Zack Greinke, two years may feel like a lifetime ago when out on the mound. With the first month of the season nearly complete, Santana's stock appears to be rising, while Greinke's is falling.
For Santana, in 2015 the innings-eater signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Twins. Just before Opening Day, Santana was suspended 80 games for PEDs. The suspension forced Santana to miss the first half of the season, and in the process ended his streak of five straight years with 30-plus starts.
Once he returned, Santana – who was relied on to be a number one starter for the Twins – under-performed in 2015 and 2016. The veteran pitcher appeared to be nearing the end of the line in his career. However, early on in this season, Santana has found the fountain of youth with his hot start. Through four starts, Santana has allowed just two earned runs in 28 innings. In his start on Thursday, Santana gave up a run and saw his ERA rise to 0.64.
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He has become that reliable guy the Twins were counting on at long last, while putting his PED incident behind him. Whether or not he can keep up this torrid pace remains to be seen, but at the moment, Santana is showing that he just might have a few more years to eat up.
For Greinke, he also signed as a free agent in the winter of 2015, but his new contract included a few more digits. Grienke was coming off a year where he just missed the Cy Young award, and went 19-3 with a 1.66 ERA. He helped formed an imposing force with Clayton Kershaw.
However, since signing his big-money deal, Greinke has had a difficult time out in the desert. Last season, everything appeared to go wrong for the right-hander, leading to a 4.37 ERA. That mark was Greinke's second-worst ERA mark in his career. While he is trying to right the ship in 2017, Greinke just does not appear to be the same guy out on the mound. He is not going as deep into games as he once did. A head-to-head matchup with Kershaw showed a glimpse of just how far the former teammates have separated in terms of performance.
While it is only April, the first month of the season has seen two veteran pitchers move in different directions. Is Santana becoming a good buy option? Will Greinke continue to offer little return on Arizona's investment?
