Hunter Greene Remains Reds Ace Despite Another Injury Setback

The Cincinnati Reds came into spring training with the belief that they had one of the best pitching staffs in all of baseball, led by star righty Hunter Greene.

But after a handful of spring outings, the Reds would lose Greene. Greene began dealing with elbow pain that stemmed from bone spurs that were found last season. In an attempt to help the Reds push for the postseason, Greene pushed through the injury last year and was advised to undergo non-surgical offseason treatment.

Once he began ramping up this spring, the pain came back and Greene ended up needing elbow surgery to fix the bone spur issue. But now he's going to miss the first half of the season, with the best-case scenario being a return in July.

The Athletic's Andy McCullough, Will Sammon and Sahadev Sharma recently put together a tiered list of all the best starting pitchers in the league this season. Despite the injury that's going to keep Greene out for half the season, he still found himself ranked among the best starting pitchers in the game, for good reason.

Hunter Greene is Still One of the Best Pitchers in Baseball When Healthy

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Hunter Greene (21) talks with special assistant to the general manager, Eric Davis, at the Cincinnati Reds player development complex in Goodyear, Ariz., on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"Well, it happens every year. We send these surveys out in January and February. Once players report to camp, things go awry for some on our list. Atlanta Braves pitcher Spencer Schwellenbach looked like the most prominent loss after undergoing surgery to remove bone spurs from his elbow," they wrote. "But then, in the second week of March, Greene announced he needed elbow surgery for a similar reason. The injury matched the tone of our panelists about him: Greene has immense talent, but has yet to put together a complete season of dominance. He won’t be able to do so in 2026, either."

Despite the injury, Greene is still one of the best pitchers in the league. He's been utterly dominant over the last two years, holding a 2.76 ERA and 0.984 WHIP across 45 games and 258 innings. He's only allowed six hits per nine innings while striking out over 10 hitters per nine innings.

The Reds will likely see him return to the team around the MLB Trade Deadline. This means that if the Reds can stay in contention without him, they will be in a great spot when he returns. Greene, along with potential deadline additions, could boost the Reds roster down the stretch.

Either way, it's going to be easy to forget about Greene when discussing the best pitchers in the league this season. While he's only going to get half the season to prove himself, the Reds ace remains one of the best in baseball. Cincinnati is fortunate to have him on the roster.

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