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Zack Greinke looks like he is pitching his way into Cooperstown, and even at age 39 he is showing is still a more-than-capable pitcher. Last night he was magnificent, tossing six innings and allowing just one run on seven hits and one walk. The Royals lost 3-0.
For Zack, this is pretty commonplace. By at least one standard, he is the least-run-supported pitcher in MLB history. I took a look at how often pitchers have gone 6+ innings, given up 1 or fewer runs, and yet their team still lost. In the history of baseball (for what Baseball-Reference has records), Zack Greinke has had the most starts with that kind of performance where his team lost.
Most times a pitcher has gone 6+ IP, with 0-1 runs allowed, and his team lost
| Pitcher | Years | Games | Career Starts | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | Years | Games | Career Starts | Percentage |
| Zack Greinke | 2004-2023 | 38 | 516 | 7.36% |
| Don Sutton | 1968-1988 | 35 | 756 | 4.63% |
| Tom Glavine | 1988-2008 | 32 | 682 | 4.69% |
| Nolan Ryan | 1968-1993 | 31 | 773 | 4.01% |
| Tommy John | 1965-1988 | 29 | 526 | 5.51% |
| Justin Verlander | 2006-2019 | 28 | 482 | 5.81% |
| Felix Hernandez | 2006-2019 | 28 | 418 | 6.70% |
| Jim Bunning | 1957-1971 | 27 | 519 | 5.20% |
| Max Scherzer | 2008-2022 | 27 | 423 | 6.38% |
| Roger Clemens | 1986-2007 | 26 | 707 | 3.68% |
Not only does he have the most such starts, his percentage of such starts is about 75 percent higher than other top pitchers.
Not all of those starts came with the Royals of course, of his 38 starts with no support, 17 came with the Royals, including three in the last two seasons.
Zack Greinke career starts with 6+ IP, 0-1 runs allowed, and his team lost
| Date | Team | Opp | Result | Greinke loss? | IP | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Team | Opp | Result | Greinke loss? | IP | R | ER | BB | SO |
| 2023-04-05 | KCR | TOR | L 0-3 | Loss | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2022-09-27 | KCR | DET | L 3-4 (10) | No decision | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 2022-05-02 | KCR | STL | L 0-1 | Loss | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2021-08-18 | HOU | KCR | L 2-3 | No decision | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020-08-07 | HOU | OAK | L 2-3 (13) | No decision | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 2019-07-26 | ARI | MIA | L 2-3 | No decision | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 2019-05-27 | ARI | COL | L 3-4 (11) | No decision | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 2019-05-10 | ARI | ATL | L 1-2 | No decision | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 2018-08-07 | ARI | PHI | L 2-5 | Loss | 7 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| 2018-05-10 | ARI | WSN | L 1-2 (11) | No decision | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 2017-04-19 | ARI | SDP | L 0-1 | Loss | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 2015-06-23 | LAD | CHC | L 0-1 (10) | No decision | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 2015-06-07 | LAD | STL | L 2-4 | No decision | 6.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 2015-05-27 | LAD | ATL | L 2-3 | No decision | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| 2015-05-16 | LAD | COL | L 1-7 | Loss | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 2015-04-07 | LAD | SDP | L 3-7 | No decision | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2014-08-30 | LAD | SDP | L 1-2 (10) | No decision | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 2014-04-18 | LAD | ARI | L 2-4 (12) | No decision | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 2013-09-28 | LAD | COL | L 0-1 | Loss | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 2012-09-20 | LAA | TEX | L 1-3 | No decision | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| 2012-09-15 | LAA | KCR | L 2-3 | No decision | 8.1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 2012-07-24 | MIL | PHI | L 6-7 | No decision | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 2012-06-12 | MIL | KCR | L 1-2 | No decision | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| 2012-05-09 | MIL | CIN | L 1-2 | No decision | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 2010-08-11 | KCR | LAA | L 1-2 (10) | No decision | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 2010-05-29 | KCR | BOS | L 0-1 | Loss | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 2010-05-02 | KCR | TBR | L 0-1 | Loss | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 2010-04-27 | KCR | SEA | L 2-3 | No decision | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 2009-09-05 | KCR | LAA | L 1-2 (11) | No decision | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| 2009-08-14 | KCR | DET | L 0-1 | No decision | 7 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| 2009-07-24 | KCR | TEX | L 0-2 | Loss | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| 2009-07-18 | KCR | TBR | L 2-4 | No decision | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| 2009-05-09 | KCR | LAA | L 0-1 | Loss | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 2008-08-26 | KCR | TEX | L 1-2 | No decision | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 2008-06-13 | KCR | ARI | L 0-1 (10) | No decision | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 5 |
| 2007-04-26 | KCR | MIN | L 0-1 (11) | No decision | 7 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 2005-04-13 | KCR | SEA | L 1-2 | No decision | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2004-09-27 | KCR | CLE | L 1-6 | No decision | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
Greinke currently has 223 career wins. Just imagine if he had decent run support and another 20 wins or so to his ledger? Fortunately, it shouldn’t matter much for his Hall of Fame credentials - voters seem to recognize now how context-dependent wins are for pitchers. Heck, Greinke won a Cy Young in 2009 with just 16 wins because had five starts that season where he gave up one or fewer runs in six innings or more and the team lost.
Of course, the Royals could let Zack help himself! He’s a career .225/.262/.336 hitter, not great, but better than the numbers of some of his teammates over the years. Shohei Ohtani can be a two-way player, why not let Zack try it out?
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