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Zack Greinke may be the least run-supported pitcher in history

How about some help?

MLB: Minnesota Twins at Kansas City Royals Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

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?