Greinke sails through rehab start

Zack Greinke cruised through what is likely the first of three Minor League rehab outings, striking out four over three innings for Class A Advanced Brevard County on Tuesday night.

Greinke, who began the season on the 15-Day disabled list with a rib cage injury, held the Tampa Yankees to one hit. He retired nine of the 10 batters he faced, throwing 35 pitches in Brevard County's 7-0 win.

"Everything worked out good," Greinke told Florida Today. "Just letting it go nice and easy, kind of. It felt good coming out of my hand."

It was the his first game since suffering a cracked rib playing pickup basketball in Spring Training. According to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy, Greinke threw 11 of his 13 pitches for strikes in the first inning, five of six pitches for strikes in the second and 11 of 16 for strikes in his final frame.

"Slider was pretty good, curve was pretty good," Greinke told the paper. "Location was good. It felt good out of the stretch. Pretty happy overall."

According to Brewers media relations director Mike Vassallo, Greinke said he "felt great" after the start. He reportedly was clocked between 91-94 mph with his fastball.

Greinke's next scheduled rehab start is expected to be with Triple-A Nashville. Milwaukee is expected to give him three rehab starts, so he may not be back until early May. According to McCalvy, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke has said Greinke will have to make at least three Minor League starts before the Brewers consider reinstating him from the disabled list, perhaps for a May 4 start against the Braves at Turner Field.