Royals: 3 best seasons for Zack Greinke in Kansas City

Despite receiving a paltry 3.78 runs of support in games he started, Greinke pulled off a 16-8 record and became the third Cy Young recipient in Kansas City Royals history.

On fire right out of the chute, Greinke posted a 6-0 record, 0.40 ERA and 54 strikeouts in his first six games including three complete games.  As the season went along, he only allowed four earned runs or more in five of his 33 starts.

He led the majors in ERA (2.16), ERA+ (205), FIP (2.33) and the American League in WHIP (1.07) and HR/9 (0.4).  This was the first year his number of strikeouts would top innings pitched as he sat down 242 hitters in 229 1/3 innings pitched.

Six complete games and three shutouts helped alleviate the fact the Royals could not muster much offense on their way to a 65-97 record.  With just a little bit more run support it is easily feasible for him to have won more than 20 games as they only scored two runs per game in his losses.

For a being on a last-place team, he ran away with the Cy Young vote beating Felix Hernandez by 54 points.

Since being traded, Greinke has gone on to have a fantastic career. While playing for several other teams he has 205 wins, a .625 winning percentage, 2622 strikeouts, and a 66.7 WAR.  This has all the makings of a Hall of Fame career and it all began with the Kansas City Royals.