DENVER -- Zack Greinke walked out of D-backs manager Torey Lovullo's office Thursday morning with a wry smile on his face and announced the news that he was selected to next week's All-Star Game presented by MasterCard as a replacement for Cubs lefty Jonathan Lester, who is scheduled to start for Chicago on Sunday, making him unable to pitch in Tuesday's main event.
This is Greinke's fifth All-Star Game selection and one he is treasuring more than the others for a pair of reasons.
The first is that his oldest child, Bode, is at an age where he can share in the experience more than in the past and the other is that Greinke, in his own words, looked awful this spring.
"That's definitely one [reason]," Greinke said of Bode and his youngest child, Griffin. "The other one is that you guys that saw me pitch in Spring Training. I didn't know if I was going to be able to get any outs this year. To end up doing as good as it's been so far, it's pretty exciting. It's probably the best support staff I've had in my career -- defense has been incredible, catchers incredible and then we've got a front office [that] gives us good game plans and everything to be prepared for stuff. I needed that this year to have as good a year as it's been so far."
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Greinke, who is 9-5 with a 3.39 ERA in 19 starts this year, is scheduled to start against the Braves on Saturday, which would allow him to pitch in the All-Star Game if needed.
Greinke joins left-hander Patrick Corbin and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt as the D-backs' representatives for the Midsummer Classic.
This will be Greinke's second straight All-Star Game appearance. Last year he tossed a scoreless inning, allowing one hit.
Lovullo, who followed Greinke out of his office, laughed after Greinke made his pronouncement.
"We had discussed how to let his teammates know and traditionally I get everybody together, but everybody was on different islands today doing different things, and I didn't want to do that," Lovullo said. "He had said he would just walk into the clubhouse and tell everybody he made the All-Star team so I appreciated that. It's a lighter side of Zack that I get to see that some others don't."
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While watching the 2018 All-Star Game presented by Mastercard live on FOX on Tuesday, fans can submit their choices for the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet with the 2018 All-Star Game MLB.com MVP Vote.
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Miller to the DL
Shelby Miller, who was forced to leave Wednesday's start after the first inning with tightness in his right elbow, was set to have an MRI on Thursday and meet with head team physician, Gary Waslewski, to assess the extent of the injury.
Miller, who was making his fourth start since having Tommy John surgery last May, was placed on the 10-day disabled list as was lefty reliever T.J. McFarland, who left Wednesday's game as well with stiffness in the left side of his neck.
With his team desperate for bullpen help after Sunday's 16-inning game and Miller's one-inning start Wednesday, right-handers Matt Koch and Silvino Bracho were recalled from Triple-A Reno to fortify the bullpen.