Greinke hangs with cutouts during his start

Buy him some peanuts and Cracker Jack.

Wait, Zack Greinke was a little bit too busy for that Friday night, even if he did spend much of the Astros’ 3-2 loss to the A’s at the Coliseum sitting in the stands amongst the cardboard cutout fans.

Greinke, the veteran Astros pitcher, took a seat in the fifth row in the stands at the end of the visitors’ dugout when the Astros were batting during his start Friday.

Greinke, with a jacket over his right arm, leisurely sat between a couple of the A’s cardboard cutouts and made his way down a few steps and opened a gate to walk into the field when it was his turn to pitch. After throwing six scoreless innings, he watched the final seven innings from the stands while wearing a mask over his face.

“It’s great. It’s really nice,” he said. “They still prefer us to be able to sit in more places more spread out. Right now, they have us kind of close to each other in the stands. I was just finding a way to get a little bit farther out of the way.”

It has become common practice this year for relievers or starters who aren’t pitching to sit in the stands, which is part of the social distancing protocols Major League Baseball has implemented. But a starter in the game? If anyone would do it, it’s Greinke, who has been known to do his own thing.

In Greinke’s defense, the first-base dugout at the Coliseum is rather small and getting to the clubhouse requires a lengthy walk up a tunnel. So sitting in the stands makes some sense. There’s no word on what the cardboard fans thought of their seatmate.