Conflicting Reports Emerge About Hunter Greene's Future at MLB Trade Deadline

This is interesting.

Jul 25, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Hunter Greene (21) throws against the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Cincinnati Reds are likely to be sellers at Major League Baseball's trade deadline, despite playing well since the All-Star break. One name that continues to come up in trade rumors is starting pitcher Hunter Greene.

On Thursday, it was reported that the Reds are listening on Greene and that there is a 50/50 chance he gets traded.

On Friday morning, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that the Reds are now telling teams that Hunter Greene is not available.

Greene's name also circulated in the offseason in trade rumors. He spoke to the media about the rumors back in February.

"I don't care about trade rumors, because that's part of the game and I can't control it," Greene told C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic. That's never bothered me. I've loved my time (in Cincinnati), and I want to continue to have a great time with the team and organization, and hopefully it's able to transpire into something longer."

If the Reds do elect to trade Greene, they better get an absolute haul for him since he's on a team-friendly contract and under team control through the 2029 season.

Greene Set to Start vs. Paul Skenes on Friday

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Hunter Greene (21) celebrates after closing out the sixth inning of a MLB game between the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs, Friday, July 10, 2026, at Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Greene is set to face off against Paul Skenes on Friday night at Great American Ball Park. On the season, Greene is 2-2 with a 7.06 ERA. He's had two good starts and two rough starts.

In his last start, Greene gave up six earned runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. He gave up just one run on three hits through the first five innings, but allowed six runs on five hits in the 6th.

Greene's splitter has been a weapon this year, but he's only thrown it 32 times in four starts. Opponents are hitting just .091 against it with no extra-base hits.

Byran Reynolds is the only Pirate with much success against Greene, going 5-16 with three extra-base hits against him.

Skenes is 9-9 with a 3.65 ERA on the season. He gave up five runs in his last start against the Cubs, but still struck out a career-high 11 batters over 5 1/3 innings.

The Reds finally got the best of Skenes the last time they faced him, but he has dominated Cincinnati throughout his career. In 16 innings at Great American Ball Park, Skenes has posted a 0.56 ERA with 21 strikeouts.

Skenes' sweeper has been nasty this year. He throws it 16% of the time and 28% of the time against right-handers. Batters are hitting just .128 against it and slugging just .255 against the pitch this season.