Zack Greinke is a unique force, but KC Royals pitchers still can take plenty from him

In the fifth inning in the 90-degree heat on Wednesday at Kauffman Stadium, a few pitches after he’d given up a game-tying home run, Royals pitcher Zack Greinke, the 38-year-old making his 500th major-league start, suddenly felt off-kilter.

So … he hit pause.

“He knows himself and his body,” catcher MJ Melendez said. “He knows when he needs to just take a step back to kind of recuperate, or recalibrate.”

The summons to the mound, though, didn’t include anyone off the field. In fact, Greinke waved off anyone inclined to emerge from the dugout.

The message as manager Mike Matheny saw it: “ I’m taking a break, Don’t come out here. I don’t need you.’ Happy to oblige.”

Among those who convened, Greinke said he was feeling a little tired, per third baseman Nicky Lopez, who said the rest of the conversation went something like this:

Lopez: “Well, you still look good.”

Greinke: “Yeah, I just need a minute. I’m tired.”

Lopez, playfully: “How old are you?”

Greinke: “Pretty old.”

They were all smiles after the reboot. And all the more so after Greinke’s six innings of one-run ball paved the way to a 2-1 victory over the Rangers (36-38) that sent the Royals (27-47) into an off-day before they were to resume play on Friday in Detroit.

But that scene in the fifth inning, not to mention the rest of his performance, wasn’t just another example of Greinke’s unique persona. It epitomized why the Royals in March brought him back for a second tour with the team on a one-year, $13 million contract.

That wasn’t about nostalgia and wasn’t intended to be some novelty act. The idea was not only that he could still pitch effectively, but that he also could be a beacon and a resource for a pivotal young pitching staff seeking traction in the big leagues.

Because even if his vast arsenal and presence might be hard to replicate, the stuff behind it is at least easy to want to emulate: the preparation and maturation and repetition that shapes his poise and resilience, and a sense of self that guides how to step forward or up …

Or even step back, as the case may be, from a player Matheny says he believes is the greatest student of the game he’s ever seen.

“Every time I’ve seen him go out there, I feel like he executes his plan so well and (is) so calm, cool and collected …” said reliever Scott Barlow, who earned his 10th save on Wednesday. “That’s something I’ve picked up (from) him a lot: just how even he is at all times. And I think he’s never up or down.

“And to do that over the amount of time he’s done it, I think that has allowed him to be as good for as long as he has.”

You could see other pitchers gravitate to Greinke from the time he arrived at spring training, and the bond among them is evident even in postgame banter. Matheny often witnesses their interest and Greinke’s accessibility, noting that Greinke is “at that phase of his career where he’s honored to be able to invest in these guys.”

Alas, it’s hard to say his influence has been absorbed more widely yet on a team that entered Wednesday with the worst ERA (5.05) in the American League and tied for the most walks in baseball (289).

Just the same, the capable arms have before and among them the portrait of what they need to do to improve: throw strikes (Greinke walked just one on Wednesday, and has walked just 11 in 63.2 innings this season); take in as much data as possible to form a plan; and learn how to maintain tranquility when the inevitable twists come to pass.

Like Greinke (4.38 ERA) did in the first inning on Wednesday, when the Rangers had runners at second and third with one out after Greinke hit Corey Seager with a pitch and Marcus Semien doubled to left on Andrew Benitendi’s gaffe that Kyle Isbel’s hustling backup kept from producing at least one run.

“I thought the first inning was pretty indicative of who Zach Greinke is, right?” Matheny said. “There’s a misplay in left field that’s typically made … And we’ve seen that with some of the younger (pitchers) lately where that stuff starts to spiral, starts to compound.”

Instead, Greinke just “started making better pitches,” Matheny said, and induced a lineout and a popup — the first two of six times he foiled the Rangers with runners in scoring position.

The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, furnished in part by the key cogs of their future: a single by rookie Bobby Witt Jr., Hunter Dozier’s double, a walk to rookie Vinnie Pasquantino and an RBI single by rookie Melendez.

Then in the bottom of the fifth, the 25-year-old Isbel, in his second major-league season, hit his second home run in as many days for what proved the game-winner.

Nice snippets and glimpses of some of what the Royals hope can be the foundation of a turnaround that has been too long in the making.

But those hopes can only go so far without the young-ish-but-not-so-young-anymore core of the pitching staff developing and blossoming, particularly the much-celebrated 2018 draft class topped by five collegiate pitchers among the top 58 players chosen.

With 221 career wins and the 2009 AL Cy Young Award among his many distinctions, Greinke presumably already has quite a legacy.

It would be a mighty fine thing if he could add to it by osmosis with the group so crucial to the Royals’ future.

“Today was such a great example of the things that have been hurting almost every single one of our young guys,” Matheny said, projecting questions any one of them might ask Greinke: “‘How do I stop the bleeding? Tell me about the mindset.’

“We need to always make sure that they’re going there and having that conversation.”

One that now might include knowing when it’s OK to get out of tempo and reset, like Greinke did in the fifth inning on Wednesday.

“How many of the young guys,” Matheny said, “are just going to keep grinding until somebody makes them stop?”

The answer is fewer, one way or another, if they can absorb more of the accessible traits that have enabled Greinke to harness his own special skills.