Kansas City Royals Activate Zack Greinke From Injured List, Scheduled to Start Thursday

The Kansas City Royals have activated pitcher Zack Greinke from the 15-day injured list, the team announced Thursday morning. Reliever Max Castillo has been optioned to Triple-A Omaha, just four days after the Royals called him up.

Greinke is slated to start Thursday afternoon's game against the Detroit Tigers.

The Royals initially placed Greinke on the injured list with right shoulder tendinitis on July 5. His last outing was against the Minnesota Twins on July 4, when he allowed seven hits, three home runs and six earned runs en route to a 9-3 loss.

In his last six starts before heading to the injured list, Greinke put up an 8.01 ERA and 1.615 WHIP. Opposing batters hit .349 with a .972 OPS against him in those games.

Greinke was slightly more stable in the 12 starts prior to that cold streak, owning a 4.19 ERA, 1.139 WHIP, .257 batting average against and .703 OPS against to that point.

On the season, the 39-year-old Greinke is 1-9 with a 5.44 ERA, 1.295 WHIP and 4.92 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

It's been a long road for Greinke over the past 20 years, with his journey starting all the way back in 2002 when the Royals picked him No. 6 overall in the MLB Draft. Greinke made it to the majors in 2004, finishing fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting.

Greinke made his first All-Star Game in 2009, also locking up the AL Cy Young award. The Royals sent Greinke to the Milwaukee Brewers at the end of the 2010 season, and then the Brewers flipped him to the Los Angeles Angels at the 2012 trade deadline.

Over the next nine years, Greinke racked up All-Star appearances and Gold Gloves out west, starting with his stint as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Greinke eventually signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who would then trade him to the Houston Astros.

Greinke re-signed with the Royals prior to last season, bringing him back to his roots at age 38.

Greinke was one of the Royals' most accomplished starters in 2022, as only he and young right-hander Brady Singer had ERAs under 5.00. The veteran and the fresh face boasted ERAs of 3.68 and 3.23, respectively.

Like Greinke, however, Singer has struggled in 2023. Although his 6-8 record is not at the level of Greinke's, Singer owns a 5.70 ERA and 1.500 WHIP.

Greinke now has the lowest ERA in Kansas City's active rotation, with Daniel Lynch and Brad Keller both still on the 15-day injured list themselves.

First pitch between the last-place Royals and fourth-place Tigers is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. ET. Kansas City dropped games one and three of the four-game home series, meaning they need to pull out a win in Greinke's start Thursday in order to salvage a split.

Greinke is sitting at 2,946 strikeouts for his career, putting him within reach of the 3,000 mark if he can remain healthy this season.

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