Nick Krall Provides Concerning Hunter Greene Injury Update

The Cincinnati Reds placed pitcher Hunter Greene on the 15-day injured list on Wednesday with right elbow soreness. Greene underwent surgery in March to remove bone fragments from his right elbow, and he was inactive until July 4.

This Is A Massive Blow To The Reds Rotation

Losing Greene now is devastating. The Reds have won three out of their last four series since the All-Star break and have been trending upward overall as a team. Reds President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall addressed the injury pregame on Wednesday.

"He is going to go see Dr ElAttrache in Los Angeles," Krall told Mike Petraglia. "We don't have anything right now. Once we have that information, we'll give it to you."

There's some uncertainty about when the injury occurred. He last pitched on July 31 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he pitched six innings with seven hits allowed, four earned runs, two walks, and four strikeouts. His turn in the rotation was originally scheduled to be on Thursday in the series finale against the Athletics.

"He threw his side(bullpen) yesterday," Krall said. "Had some soreness. Came out of his side and we sent him to go see a doctor first thing this morning."

Krall confirmed that Greene did have an MRI Wednesday morning at Beacon Orthopedic and will travel to Los Angeles to see Dr. Neal ElAtrache. He did not confirm if the new injury is related to his previous surgery. With Greene on the IL, this obviously shuffles the rotation around until the Reds can adjust the roster around it. They recalled reliever Luis Mey to fill the roster spot.

Who Takes Greene's Place In The Rotation?

Now that Greene is out, that leaves the Reds short a starter in the rotation. Nick Lodolo is currently on the IL and made his first rehab start on Wednesday. Brandon Williamson is on the IL and is also in the midst of a rehab stint to try and return. The Reds have Rhett Lowder, Chase Burns, Andrew Abbott, and Brady Singer currently active in the rotation with no true cut starter ready in Triple-A.

"I think Abbott’s going to start tomorrow," Krall said. "We're still working through it, but I think that Abbott's going to end up starting tomorrow."

Chase Petty is currently active, but they have been using him in the bullpen. There is a chance they can move him back into the rotation until they get more information on Greene's status going forward.

The one concern with Greene throughout his career has been availability. He has spent significant time on the injured list at some point in every season of his career. When healthy, he's one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball. The issue is that he's unavailable more often than not.

"It's tough," Krall said. "He's had a couple of elbow things this season. He's had some other stuff throughout the last couple of seasons. We know we're going to get him on the right track and get him back, and hopefully, he'll be in games sooner rather than later. Whatever happens, we just have to support him and do whatever we can to do that."

The timing of the injury is tough. With Lodolo and Williamson pitching in rehab starts on Wednesday and Thursday, it felt like the rotation was getting close to being back to full strength. The Reds are now just four games under .500 and five games out of a Wild Card spot. Their September schedule is brutal, playing the Brewers and Dodgers in four consecutive series. Losing Greene severely hurts the Reds' chances of a playoff birth in consecutive seasons under Terry Francona.

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