A slumping Alex Gordon once followed Zack Greinke into the video room expecting swing tips. Instead, Greinke played a highlight of himself, a pitcher, hitting a home run, told Gordon to try doing more of that, and walked out. That story distills a mind that took the standard sports-hero playbook, threw it on the ground, and mathematically proved why it was inefficient.

A natural at every sport, Greinke was drafted sixth overall by the Royals and reached the majors at 20, but the pressure caused a collapse. He walked away from spring training in 2006, diagnosed with depression and social anxiety disorder. He rebuilt his career not just through mechanics but by rewiring his cognitive approach, weaponizing the statistic FIP as a mental firewall against anxiety by focusing only on what he could control.

• Adopted Fielding Independent P ...