Reds ace Hunter Greene will endure surgical procedure to take away bone chips from his proper elbow right now, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The crew is hoping to have him again in some unspecified time in the future in July. He’ll be positioned on the 60-day injured checklist each time Cincinnati must open a spot on the 40-man roster.
The Reds revealed late final week that they’d despatched Greene for a number of waves of imaging and hoped to have additional information early this week. Greene himself mentioned on the time that he’s navigated bone spurs for a while however had not too long ago acquired a clear MRI on his ulnar collateral ligament. Docs hadn’t beneficial surgical procedure for the bone chips till this level. He skilled some ache late final season, and medical doctors beneficial an injection on the time. That allowed Greene to have a traditional offseason, however he skilled renewed discomfort upon ramping up in camp and can now head beneath the knife.
Greene is much from the one pitcher in MLB to pitch by way of some recognized bone spurs or free our bodies in his elbow. {Most professional} pitchers have some extent of damage and tear of their elbow and/or shoulder, be it bone chips or gentle harm to a ligament, flexor tendon, rotator cuff, labrum, and many others. Reds followers will certainly really feel frustration that the discomfort dates again to final season however is being addressed in 2026. Surgical procedure is a last-resort possibility, nonetheless, and hadn’t been beneficial till this newest wave of discomfort set in.
Shedding Greene is a gut-punch for a Reds rotation that had appeared like one of many sport’s strongest, on paper. He was in line to begin Opening Day and be adopted by Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo, Brady Singer and one in every of Chase Burns or Rhett Lowder, each former top-10 picks within the draft and extremely touted prime prospects. Greene’s harm now opens the door for each Burns and Lowder to make the workers — significantly after Chase Petty was optioned yesterday — though left-hander Brandon Williamson stays in camp and might be an possibility as he returns from a 2025 season misplaced to harm.
A former No. 2 total draft decide, Greene has been one of many sport’s finest pitchers on a charge foundation over the previous two seasons. Nevertheless, he’s additionally missed appreciable time because of a pair of groin strains in 2025 and a few elbow discomfort in 2024. He’s began 45 video games throughout relationship again to ’24 and labored to a 2.76 ERA with a 29.2% strikeout charge, 8.1% stroll charge and 33.5% ground-ball charge. Final 12 months’s 15.4% swinging-strike charge was fourth-best in MLB (min. 100 innings pitched), trailing solely Tarik Skubal, Dylan Stop and Logan Gilbert.
Greene is coming into the fourth season of a six-year, $53MM extension. The 26-year-old is being paid $8MM this season earlier than making $15MM and $16MM in 2027-28. The Reds maintain a $21MM membership possibility (with a $2MM buyout) over his 2029 season. With Greene on the shelf to start the 12 months, Abbott has been named the Reds’ Opening Day starter. President of baseball operations Nick Krall mentioned final week on the time Greene was being despatched for an MRI that he didn’t envision turning to free company even within the occasion that Greene can be sidelined for a big time frame.
