Dodgers News: Zack Greinke Second Best Hitting Pitcher Last 40 Years

When the Dodgers signed starter Zack Greinke to the richest contract for a right handed starter in baseball history over the winter, it’s hard to imagine Stan Kasten and Ned Colletti thought he’d perform this well.

After a solid start to the year, Greinke didn’t have the greatest May and compounded his problems by breaking his collarbone in the brawl with the Padres. However, Greinke fixed a mechanical issue with pitching coach Rick Honeycutt and posted an ERA of 2.63 in July and 1.23 in August.

However, that isn’t Greinke’s greatest accomplishment with the Dodgers according to Jonah Keri of Grantland.com:

Only Micah Owings has put up a better offensive season than Greinke’s 2013, among all full-time pitchers over the past 40 years. And Owings was an exception of sorts, being so bad at pitching and so good at hitting that he later switched and became a full-time position player.

In 59 plate appearances this season, Greinke is hitting .340 with a .426 OBP and if you calculated his WRC+, which is a player’s offensive line calculated to determine the runs they’re worth to team, Greinke’s is at 152 with the league average at 100.

Greinke has four RBIs on the season and compared to ace Clayton Kershaw, seems like a slacker as Kershaw has eight RBIs. Paired together with the idea that they’d form the best 1-2 punch in baseball, Kershaw and Greinke were a combined 8-2 in the month of August.

While it’s unlikely that he’ll continue to hit at .340 clip, Greinke has been everything the Dodgers could’ve hoped for when they signed him in mid-December.

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In case you missed it, be sure to sure to find out more about Yasiel Puig being benched.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0j7vPiTokI