Zack Greinke won last night, but finally gave up a run. He’s the story du jour in baseball this week after the SI cover story vaulted the once-troubled pitcher back into the spotlight. He’s also definitely not the best pitcher in baseball. Unless, of course, you want to say that Jason Bartlett of Tampa Bay is the best SS in baseball, and Toronto’s Aaron Hill is the best second baseman in MLB. One month does not a season make – and in Greinke’s case, nor do the other two months at the end of last year.

While there’s certainly no authority on who the best pitcher is, Joel Sherman in the New York Post weighed in on the subject:

I thought the April Fool’s issue had come and gone already. I am still trying to figure out how Zack Greinke is an anagram for Sidd Finch, or exactly how a guy with zero All-Star appearances and a career high of 13 wins becomes the best at something based on a handful of glorious starts to open 2009.

All-Star appearances are hardly a barometer of greatness, and the stat-heads would argue that wins aren’t, either. Tough to argue against Johan Santana’s credentials, though:

The conversation about the best current pitcher in the majors starts and ends with Toronto’s Roy Halladay and Santana, because they have a little something called credentials. In Santana’s case, those credentials now include a streak of 19 starts, dating to last year, in which he has not surrendered more than three runs. His ERA in that period is 1.65. His record is 11-1, and if he played for a team that either hit for him or played defense well behind him, Santana could very easily be 19-0 in that period.

We’d put Lincecum right there with him, but that’s just us.

NO BULL(PEN): BEST PITCHER IN BASEBALL DESERVES BETTER (NY Post)