Fantasy Baseball: 5 Pitchers Whose Velocity Trends Should Have Your Attention

Zack Greinke, Arizona Diamondbacks

Coming off a dismal first year with the Arizona Diamondbacks, former front-liner Zack Greinke saw his fantasy star dim considerably during draft season as the velocity woes that plagued him in 2016 extended into 2017 spring training.

Indeed, the 33-year-old veteran gradually has been losing tick after tick on his average fastball velocity over each of the past four seasons. Grienke's four-seam in particular has seen a significant decline in strikeout rate (K%) -- the pitch induced a 33.8 K% during his strong 2014 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, a mark that regressed to 23.1 percent in 2015 and then fell all the way down to 14.5 percent last season.

Some have speculated that Greinke's fastball issues speak to an issue with pitch framing that has plagued the Arizona staff at large. Whatever the case may be, the fact remains that Greinke's four-seam got pounded for a .959 on base plus slugging (OPS) last season.

The ever-cerebral Greinke appeared to be relying more on the two-seam grip for his first start this season, but that pitch showed no significant velocity gains, with a 93 mph maximum velocity and an average mark around 91. He managed only 18 of the 32 such pitches for strikes, and it was with this pitch that Greinke served up his lone homer on the day.

This isn't exactly a call to abandon ship on the crafty veteran, but suffice it to say the evidence that Greinke's decline may be imminent is getting harder to ignore.