Zack Greinke to start Wednesday for Dodgers, location TBD

Zack Greinke came out of his Sunday bullpen session with no problems, and will start for the Dodgers on Wednesday. The location of that start, however, has yet to be determined.

The Dodgers play in Surprise on Wednesday against the Royals, but Greinke could also be held back to pitch in a minor league game against Double-A or Triple-A players from the White Sox at Camelback Ranch.

"We want to be able to control the outing," said manager Don Mattingly on Monday. "It will be in a game, but we don't know which side it will be, one of the spring training games or not."

Greinke last pitched in a Cactus League game on Mar. 1. He was scratched from his Mar. 6 start with the flu, then scratched from his Mar. 11 start with elbow soreness. He flew back to Los Angeles to meet with team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache and was disagnosed with elbow inflammation, but an MRI showed no structural damage to Greinke's elbow or the surrounding ligaments and tendons.

Greinke's pitch limit on Wednesday will be 45 pitches, wherever he pitches. Starting Wednesday puts Greinke in line for two more spring starts on regular rest, on Mar. 25 and Mar. 30. The Dodgers could opt to start Greinke on those days on the minor league side, then place him on the disabled list retroactive to 10 days prior to opening day, which would put him in line for a possible weekend start against the Pirates during the first week of the season.

By pitching in a major league spring training game, that would push up the retroactive date should the Dodgers decide to have Greinke open the season on the disabled list.

But that all depends on whether Greinke is built up or not, and starting at 45 pitches seems awfully low. The Dodgers don't technically need a fifth starter until Apr. 13.