For those of you who don't have your Google News Alerts set to "Kansas City Royals," you might not being paying close attention to a truly bizarre story involving Zack Greinke. The one-time Royals phenom, once called "the future of pitching" by Baseball Prospectus, has left the team for an unspecified period of time. And no one seems to know why. The team is tight-lipped, saying it's not drugs, not a disciplinary manner, not an injury and not a "reflection of a desire to remain in baseball." It's also not related to a family member or any other person. We're not sure what's left after all that; on the run from the mob?
Rockies blog Bad Altitude tries to tackle the issue and comes up with one possible (and optimistic, we think) answer: He can't stand pitching for the Royals anymore and is frustrated and bored. Greinke's success has always been based in his intellect, and there are rumors that he's having difficulty handling life in baseball's wasteland. For his sake, we hope that's all it is.
Greinke Dealing With Issues [KC Star]
The Mysterious Case Of Zack Greinke [Bad Altitude]
Have You Seen This Pitcher? [Royals Authority]
(UPDATE: An interview with Zack Greinke brings up serious questions about that whole "intellect" thing. When asked if he could have dinner with any famous person, dead or alive, he says, "Brad Pitt." He also punched his car when he found out Pitt and Jennifer Aniston and cried himself to sleep. Seriously.)