Hunter Greene's Return Looks Closer After Latest Rehab Start

Cincinnati Reds ace Hunter Greene made his second rehab start of the season, this time with Triple-A Louisville. His performance should get Reds fans excited for his return.

Greene Dazzles in Second Rehab Start

Greene was originally scheduled to throw between 70 to 75 pitches in this appearance. He finished the day with 64, but tossed four shutout innings with just two hits, a walk, and recorded three strikeouts. His second strikeout of the game was on a 98-mile-per-hour fastball. Greene mentioned after his outing that he "felt strong and ready to be back". That was reported by Sarandon Raboin on social media.

Of his 64 pitches, 36 were for strikes, but a lot of the non-strikes were on pitches he was trying to get guys to chase. He had a hard cap at 75 pitches. He will make one more rehab start with Louisville on Sunday and if that goes well, he will return to the Reds shortly after.

"Coming off the field today, I felt like I was ready to go," Greene told Aaron Cheris after his outing. "You've got to be able to make adjustments to continue to stay ahead of the game and not just compete, but also dominate."

On March 11, he underwent surgery on his right elbow to remove bone fragments that were bothering him since the end of last season. The 26-year-old has yet to allow a run in either of his rehab appearances in eight innings and has nine strikeouts with two walks.

Greene's Comeback Comes At The Right Time

Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona (77) looks on from the dugout in the ninth inning of the MLB National League Central game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Milwaukee Brewers at Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati on Monday, June 22, 2026. The Brewers won, 2-1, in 10 innings. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Getting Greene back now couldn't come at a better time. Unfortunately, Nick Lodolo was struck by a line drive on his throwing hand during Tuesday's matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers, and he had to exit the game. There is no word on the severity other than it's a wrist contusion, as reported by the team.

Greene has been the Reds' ace over the last two seasons and has turned into one of the better pitchers in the National League. After not recording an ERA under four in each of his first two seasons, he burst onto the scene in 2024, dropping his ERA to 2.75 and his batting average against dropped from 2.53 to 1.83. He earned Cy Young votes that season and put up equal numbers in 2025. His ERA was 2.76, his average against was .192, and his WHIP was a career best 0.94.

Adding Greene back into the rotation with Andrew Abbott returning to form, Brady Singer looking far better over his last couple of starts, and Chase Burns breaking out into a young star and potential All-Star will be a massive shot in the arm for the Reds as they hope to string together winning baseball over the next few months to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Mason Neville Promoted To High-A After Showing Improvement in Arizona Complex League

Neville struggled mightily to begin the season with the Low-A Daytona Tortugas. His strikeout rate was astronomically high at over 43 percent. The Reds sent him back down to the Arizona Complex League to work on his swing and plate discipline. That worked well for the 2025 college baseball home run leader; he cut his strikeout rate down to 25 percent and nearly doubled his walk rate. He slashed .418/.535/.909 in 18 games in the ACL, and with that performance, he skipped a return to Daytona and was promoted to the High-A Dayton Dragons.

Neville has a ton of power potential, but his chase rate and high strikeout percentage prevented him from being a more sought-after draft prospect. If he can keep up his recent trend of showing better swing discipline, he can undoubtedly be an impact middle-of-the-order bat at the Major League level one day.

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