why it sometimes doesn't really matter to a pitcher

For baseball's spring training, sometimes a player can have a horrendous spring training, and not have it really matter.

Brewers right-hander Zack Greinke

On Sunday, Brewers right-handed pitcher struggled to get through 2 innings.  He threw way more pitches than he normally would've needed to, gave up 5 hits, and had trouble throwing strikes.  So should fans really be worried?  Not really.

Greinke is one of the top pitchers in the game.  The goal for Greinke in spring training is to continually improve his conditioning and pitching as spring training goes on.  Perhaps Greinke was working on a particular pitch on Sunday, or getting used to working with a new catcher.  In the end, it is likely we will see Greinke get better and better as we approach the March 31st opening day.

This just in, Greinke was working on a new grip for his curveball.