DENVER – Nolan Arenado lunged forward and swung feebly, then began a brisk walk back to the Rockies’ dugout on Friday night. He had just seen his first slider of the night from Diamondbacks right-hander Zack Greinke, and he had no chance.
“It was breaking harder,” Arenado said, “than I’ve ever seen him throw a slider.”
Greinke is seven starts into what so far has been a resurgent second season in the Diamondbacks rotation, and so far he is looking more like the frontline starter the club paid $206.5 million for him to be.
In recent outings, his slider has been a big part of the turnaround, but he also has had excellent command and is having success despite losing a tick and a half off his fastball from previous years.