I suppose I should be angry, saddened, outraged, or some other emotion after hearing that Manny Ramirez has been suspended fifty games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

I just don’t care.

I’m not surprised in any way (other than the usual surprise I get when people are actually caught by the testing, since a $20 million salary should get you access to drugs that aren’t testable).  If I have any emotion at all, it’s anger towards all of the fans who are now expressing righteous indignation about Ramirez.

In an era where fans are disappointed when a player puts up a .299/.398/.529 statline, and where every player who needs a day off or has a lingering injury has his manhood and value to the team questioned by round-the-clock sports coverage, why is anyone surprised when a player does something to come back from injury quicker or boost that statline.  How can anyone feign anger?

I don’t know if Zack Greinke has a nickname yet, but since Big Z is already taken by Carlos Zambrano, and he’s bigger than Greinke, I vote for Little Z.  Or maybe just Z.  Or Z-G.  Whatever.

Two years ago, at my auction draft, I picked up Greinke near the end of the draft for $6.  He had pitched only six innings the season before, not because of any physical injury but because of psychological issues.  No one doubted that he had talent; it was a question of whether he would harness it.

Greinke pitched mostly in relief that season but was put in the rotation in September and looked good.  I protected him for 2007, where he finished 13-10 with a 3.47 ERA and 183 strikeouts in 202.1 innings.  I assumed this was the Greinke peak – good strikeout totals, decent ERA, win total suffering because of the team he played for.  Still, I extended his contract out to 2011.

Damn if it doesn’t look like a good signing right now, because Greinke is far and away the best pitcher in baseball right now.  After six starts, Zack is 6-0 with three complete games, two shutouts, and fifty-four strikeouts.

He has given up two earned runs, though.  Bum.

The only pitcher I can remember starting this hot is Pedro Martinez in1998, but he wasn’t getting wins because the team wasn’t scoring runs.  Pedro ‘98 was 2-0 with a 2.28 and 57 Ks, which is outstanding but still nowhere as good as this.  Then again, Pedro stayed like that all season.  Will Zack keep it up?