Greinke has already allowed more earned runs than last year

Zack Greinke’s 2015 season was historic on many levels. His 1.66 ERA was the lowest by any pitcher since Greg Maddux put up a 1.63 mark in 1995, and this catapulted him into a nice $206.5 million contract.

His 2016 season, however, got off to a bit of a shaky start. While he has bounced back nicely in May and June, Greinke’s three earned runs allowed last night against the Rockies put him at 43 earned runs let up for the season. That’s already two more than he allowed during the entire 2015 season.

Nobody was expecting Zack Greinke to replicate his historic 2015 season, so it should come as no surprise that he allowed more earned runs this year than last year. The fact that he surpassed this mark on June 24, however, is a little bit surprising.

But this is really more of a testament to how great Greinke was last season rather than his shortcomings this season. 1.66 ERA’s only come around once every couple of decades, so that was truly special. And it’s not even like Greinke’s 3.61 ERA is terrible.

Greinke let up 21 of his earned runs in his first five starts. After his April 25 outing, Greinke’s ERA stood at an unsightly 6.15, as he allowed seven earned runs in two of his starts. But he has looked like the Greinke of old since then, going 8-1 with a 2.58 ERA and 3.20 FIP. The Diamondbacks have not lost any of his last eight starts, and has a 2.18 ERA during that span. Last night was his first start where he didn’t get a win since May 12.