"Zack Greinke is ready to pitch in a game.

No more bullpen sessions. No more batting practice. No more simulated action.

Greinke pronounced himself ready Friday to go on minor-league rehabilitation after a 30-pitch simulated session against teammates Mark Kotsay, George Kottaras and Erick Almonte. Greinke said he will pitch Tuesday for Class A Brevard County against Tampa, which the club later confirmed.

Five days after that, Greinke said he'll pitch for Class AAA Nashville against Omaha. Then what?

"We'll see," said Greinke.

Manager Ron Roenicke said he thinks Greinke will need three rehab outings, however, before being ready to pitch for the Brewers with a decent pitch count. Roenicke said Greinke would be limited to 30-35 pitches in his first outing, then around 50 in his second game.

That workload would make Greinke ready to throw only 70-75 pitches the next time out, and Roenicke wants his arm built up more than that.

"Once he gets around 75 pitches, then he's pretty much ready (for the majors)," said Roenicke. "He needs to pitch at least three times. He'll be coming back and forth (from the Brewers to the minors)."

If Greinke needs a third rehab outing, it probably would be April 29 for Nashville against Albuquerque. Moving forward five days beyond that, he would make his first start for the Brewers on May 4 in Atlanta.

Greinke and Roenicke both were pleased with the 30-pitch simulated outing, in which Greinke threw 15 pitches, took a break, then threw 15 more.

"It went good," said Greinke, who has been on the disabled list with a cracked left rib suffered early in spring camp playing basketball. "I threw a lot of strikes. I located, in and out, pretty good."

Asked if he's ready for game action, Greinke said, "Yeah. I might not be the sharpest or the best, but I feel ready. I feel I can execute some things and get some outs.""