HOUSTON, TEXAS – SEPTEMBER 03: Zack Greinke #21 of the Houston Astros pitches against the Texas Rangers at Minute Maid Park on September 03, 2020 in Houston, Texas. Houston won 8-4. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
New Astros starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi had already met ace Zack Greinke in the past before becoming teammates this year in Houston.
The Houston Astros received some terrible news when Framber Valdez was diagnosed with a fractured finger earlier this month. As a result, the team went out and signed Jake Odorizzi.
He now joins a starting rotation headlined by Zack Greinke, as Justin Verlander is set to miss the entire season recovering from Tommy John surgery. The duo of Odorizzi and Greinke is something for fans to be excited about even after Valdez’s injury.
They also apparently met each other before in what was a serious situation for Odorizzi.
Zack Greinke and Jake Odorizzi go way back thanks to arbitration
The connections here are wild, as Odorizzi went to arbitration with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018. James Click was the team’s general manager at the time and just so happens to now have that same position with the Astros.
Astros beat writer Chandler Rome clarified why Greinke was allowed into the room in the first place.
Odorizzi and his agents won that case, only for him to be traded to Minnesota days later. He really got to see the business side of the game that week. Arbitration hearings are notoriously brutal as the team argues all the reasons why it should not give the player what they are asking in salary.
The two pitchers are now being relied upon to keep the Astros as a contender with other key arms out in 2021. Having any sort of prior relationship always helps, and the two veterans can work with the entire pitching staff and be leaders this season with their respective performances on the mound.