Bryce Harper not impressed by Zack Greinke: ‘He was okay’

Zack Greinke continues to chase history, improving his scoreless inning streak Sunday to 43 2/3 innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers blanked the Washington Nationals by the count of 5-0.

[Play a Daily Fantasy contest for cash today!]

You know who wasn’t terribly impressed by Greinke’s outing Sunday? Fellow NL All-Star starter Bryce Harper. Harper, speaking to reporters after the game, didn’t fawn over Greinke as is somewhat customary when a player is in the middle of a record book-challenging hot streak. Another Dodger, Orel Hershiser, owns the record with 59 straight scoreless innings in 1988. Greinke’s streak is now the fourth longest in MLB history, stretching six starts, and in his next start, he could pass Bob Gibson’s 47 scoreless innings in 1968.

Harper said Greinke “wasn’t that tough,” even though he had two strikeouts and a walk Sunday. Per CSN Washington:

“I think he was okay. When you’re getting five to six inches off of the plate, you better win the game,” Harper said. “For me, I don’t think he was very tough. He’s a great pitcher, he does what he does, but when you’re getting six inches off the plate it’s pretty tough to face him.”

Since this is Bryce Harper we’re talking about, you can just go ahead and cue up his detractors saying that Harper doesn’t respect the game or that he has a huge ego or that loves Donald Trump or whatever. But Harper might have had a point, take a look at this way-off-the-plate strike call Greinke got in the seventh inning:

Harper struck out later in the at-bat and also thought the called second strike (the pitch that caught the inside of the plate) was ball four. So, more than Greinke, it seems like Harper’s issue was with the strike zone. And really, showing me a batter upset about umprising is like showing me a person who thinks they spent too much money on their recent trip to Costco.

Elsewhere in his media scrum, Harper did say that Greinke is a “damn good pitcher,” he’s just reserving praise:

“He’s a good pitcher. He’s doing what he’s doing to help that team over there, but I don’t want to give him too much credit because I’ve gotta face him again. That’s the biggest thing. I don’t really want to give him too much credit because of that reason, but he’s a damn good pitcher.”

So, before you get too huffy and puffy about Harper’s comments, just know that he’s got a legit gripe about one of the strike calls above and he’s the type of hyper-competitive player who may think praising a guy who struck him out twice means he’s already lost mentally the next time.

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports: