MRI for Reds' Hunter Greene could derail season in spring

Hunter Greene is among MLB's elite pitchers

Not every fan necessarily appreciates just how good Greene has become in recent seasons. After all, the Reds aren't in a big market and are often overlooked as it relates to prime-time games. Still, he's clearly among the elite pitchers in MLB.

Greene is now 26 years old after breaking into the majors back in 2022. He has been with the Cincinnati organization since 2017, when the Reds selected him with the second overall pick. Many expected him to go first in that draft at one point. 

2024 became the breakout season professionally for Greene. In his All-Star campaign, he finished with a 2.75 ERA and 1.018 WHIP with 169 strikeouts in 150.1 innings pitched. He followed that up in 2025 with arguably an even better season. In 107.2 innings pitched, he had a 2.76 ERA, a 0.938 WHIP and 132 strikeouts. However, he was limited in 2025 with a groin injury.

At first, this elbow injury appeared to be new. However, Greene has since revealed that he was pushing through it for the playoff run a season ago.

"It was a playoff push," Greene said. "So I pushed through it... as of now, there's no UCL damage."

Reds were hoping to take a step forward in 2026

2025 was the first time the Reds made the playoffs since 2020, which was a shortened season. It was their first playoff trip in a full season since 2013. Fans and the team alike were ready to build on that success. 

This offseason, the Reds were aggressive in trying to add to their team. That included bringing in slugger Eugenio Suarez and re-signing closing pitcher Emilio Pagan. Cincinnati was also involved in the bidding for Kyle Schwarber, but fell short there. Regardless, it's more spending than the team has been involved with recently, and it was done to position itself to get back to the postseason.

Without Greene, that becomes exponentially more difficult to do. The ace of the staff is missing. Much is going to be expected of Andrew Abbott, who threw 166.1 innings and had a 2.87 ERA a season ago. Then, others, like Nick Lodolo, will need to take another step forward to try to make up for Greene's lost production. Others, like Chase Burns, are going to need to begin reaching their full potential.

Of course, there's still a chance that the elbow injury isn't anything major and Greene can return this season. It's just that an MRI is always going to be a major concern for any pitcher. When it's a team's ace, it's a concern for the season as a whole.