Dodgers starter Zack Greinke has 'absolutely zero excitement' for Australia trip

Zack Greinke is 106-82 in 10 MLB seasons with the Royals, Brewers, Angels and Dodgers. (Harry How/Getty Images)

The Dodgers and Diamondbacks will kick off the 2014 MLB regular season in Sydney, Australia, next month, and Zack Greinke will likely start one of the two games for L.A.

But he's not happy about it.

"I would say there is absolutely zero excitement for it. There just isn't any excitement to it," Greinke told Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com on Sunday. "I can't think of one reason to be excited for it."

However, Greinke added that he understands the reason for the trip.

"It's a baseball thing. It's an ownership thing, spreading stuff around," he said. "That's what it's for and it's for the greater good of baseball."

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Still, the organizers for the opening series are not happy with Greinke's statements and have asked for an explanation from the players association, the team or Greinke himself before responding, according to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald.

"Zack has this endearing, contrarian quality to him that we all know and love about him," Dodgers president Stan Kasten said. "He's famously focused and meticulous about his training regimen. It's what makes him so good and such a great teammate. This is clearly going to alter his routine. I understand that aspect of it.

"But my problem right now is trying to make room for all the people that want to go -- players, family, front-office people. As an organization, we couldn't be more excited about this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

The games will be played more than one week before opening day for the rest of the league, and so the Dodgers are reportedly considering leaving reigning NL Cy Young award winner Clayton Kershaw back in the United States. Kershaw pitched a career-high 259 innings last season (including the playoffs) and manager Don Mattingly doesn't want him pitching too many innings early in the season.

That could mean Greinke will get the nod for the first Australia game.

Last season, Greinke's first with the Dodgers, the 30-year-old went 15-4 with a 2.63 ERA.

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