Zack Greinke hopes mild calf strain won’t rule him out for Australia

PHOENIX — Removed from his spring debut after only four pitches Thursday with a mild right calf strain, Zack Greinke remained hopeful that he would be able to pitch in the Dodgers’ season-opening series in Australia.

“It definitely doesn’t take me out of the mix,” Greinke said. “Hopefully, it doesn’t. But we’ll see how it feels tomorrow.”

Greinke described the strain as minor. He said that if he had felt something similar in a regular-season game he would have continued pitching.

“I don’t know exactly what it was, but it felt kind of like a cramp,” he said.

The Dodgers will face the Arizona Diamondbacks in a two-game series in Australia on March 22-23. Even if Greinke remains on turn, he would be able to make three starts before then.

Greinke was the source of controversy last week when he said he wasn’t looking forward to traveling to Australia. He clarified his remarks, saying he had nothing against the country and was only concerned about how it would disrupt his preparation.

Greinke admitted that he voted against the trip.

“But more people wanted to go than not,” he said. “So, now that we are going, I want to be there. I don’t want to not go and have the rest of the team go and have to play and me sit here watching. I also don’t want to go over there and watch. I want to go over there and play, since that’s what we’re doing.”