9:10 pm: After tonight’s game, Reds manager David Bell said Greene’s MRI looked encouraging (per Goldsmith). While he added that it was too soon to offer a timeline for Greene’s return, the skipper seemed optimistic his ace could be back on the mound once his minimum 15-day stint on the IL is up.
7:51 pm: The Reds have placed All-Star starting pitcher Hunter Greene on the 15-day injured list with right elbow soreness, the team announced. The club did not make a corresponding move before tonight’s game against the Royals at Great American Ball Park.
Greene, 25, was utterly dominant in his last start, holding the Cardinals to four hits and one run over seven innings. He struck out eight and walked only one. However, he reportedly felt soreness in his elbow following the outing (per Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer). The pain temporarily went away, but it returned while he was playing catch today. President of baseball operations Nick Krall told Goldsmith that the IL stint is precautionary as of right now, and Greene will need an MRI before the team can decide on any next steps.
The young flamethrower underwent Tommy John surgery as a minor leaguer in 2018. While his elbow has remained healthy since then, Greene spent several weeks on the IL with a shoulder strain in 2022 and hip soreness in 2023. At long last, it seemed like 2024 would be the year he put everything together. His star potential has long been evident, but he was finally enjoying star-caliber results, with a 2.83 ERA through a career-high 143 1/3 innings pitched. Unfortunately, his excellent season has now been put on hold. It’s unclear how serious the issue might be, but it’s naturally worrisome when a hard-throwing pitcher with a history of UCL problems goes on the IL with elbow pain.
With Graham Ashcraft and Brandon Williamson on the 60-day IL, Cincinnati’s starting depth is already quite thin. Other starters on the 40-man roster include Connor Phillips and Lyon Richardson, but Phillips was sent to the Reds’ training complex in June amid tremendous struggles at Triple-A (10.11 ERA in 14 GS), while Richardson has recently been pitching out of the bullpen at Triple-A amid a difficult season of his own (4.58 ERA in 23 G).
Thus, the Reds will likely need to add a pitcher to the 40-man roster to start in Greene’s place on Monday. They already have an open spot to do so. Mark Sheldon of MLB.com names 23-year-old right-hander Julian Aguiar and 31-year-old right-hander Connor Overton as potential options, but he notes that the team is not planning to promote 22-year-old righty Rhett Lowder, one of the organization’s top prospects, from Double-A.