Greinke roughed up in rehab start, says he's '100 percent'
Zack Greinke made it through a rocky five-plus innings on his rehab assignment on Wednesday night in Salt Lake City and declared himself "100 percent" healthy in his recovery from a strained oblique.
Working with an 80-pitch limit against the Salt Lake Bees, Greinke gave up nine hits, two walks and five earned runs in five-plus innings. He gave a solo home run to leadoff batter Ragael Ortega in the first inning, two more runs in the second (including a first-pitch home run by Cal Towey) and was charged with two more runs in the sixth that came around to score after being replaced by Kaleb Fleck.
"My fastball was getting hit hard, but it's been getting hit hard all year, so it's nothing new," Greinke told reporters in Salt Lake City.
Greinke said afterward that his past minor-league rehab appearances have been typically poor.
"They've always been really bad outings for me," Greinke said. "And then I always do bad when I get back to the big leagues. Hopefully that part will change."
Greinke was removed after walking the first two batters he faced in the sixth inning, and both came around to score to break a 3-3 tie. In addition to the two walks, he struck out five.
D-backs manager Chip Hale said Wednesday that as long as Greinke emerged from the rehab outing healthy, he would likely pitch on Tuesday against the Mets in New York.
Greinke said the oblique -- injured on June 28 -- felt "100 percent" and was pleased with his velocity overall, generally in the low 90s.
"It was great, unless this (radar gun) is just fast," he said. "It was better than normal -- I feel really strong."
