Saturday National League playoffs thread: Zack Greinke

It's hard to appreciate Zack Greinke. He has a persona that is not easily accessible. It can make it difficult to approach him, from a public perspective, but his greatness demands familiarity.

Much like 2009, Greinke has put together one of the best pitching seasons of this generation. By Baseball Reference's Wins Above Replacement, he tied with Bryce Harper for the top spot among all players. He put together one of the most impressive scoreless streaks in baseball history.

Today, the presumed NL Cy Young winner pitches for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Mets and Noah Syndergaard. Like most things involving Greinke, it is bittersweet because he pitches against the New York Mets, whom despite their big city trappings are one of the more interesting stories in this postseason.

At once, I would like to see Greinke achieve a lot of postseason success, but there can only be one winner, and for me it would be the Mets. Though my head is in Los Angeles, my heart is in Flushing Meadows. First pitch tonight is at 8:07 CT on TBS.

In the afternoon game, which is equally interesting for far more sadistic reasons, the Chicago Cubs take on the St. Louis Cardinals with soft-tossing Kyle Hendricks going against lefty Jaime Garcia, also on TBS. The two best teams by win-loss remaining meet in the NLDS with St. Louis capturing Game 1. If the Cubs can capture Game 2, they have an easy road to 2-1 with Jake Arrieta for Game 3. Much like Kansas City, though, if they lose today their chances approach nil for moving on this postseason.