Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning you’ll get a fresh, topical column to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
The first pitch Zack Greinke threw on Opening Day was an 87-mph fastball. Mark Canha of Oakland fouled it off. Greinke threw 81 more pitches, only one of which cracked 91 mph. He has not hit 93—the average MLB velocity—since Sept. 20, 2019.
So began another pitching clinic. Averaging 88.6 mph with his fastball, Greinke flummoxed Oakland over six scoreless innings without a walk by mixing his fastball, curve, changeup and slider with surgical precision.