Play Now
Men’s Brackets
Play Now
Women’s Brackets
WRs With Sophomore QBs
Covering the impact of coronavirus on the sports world
The Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday announced that they are going to break camp with top pitching prospect Hunter Greene in their rotation. Greene will start April 10, making his MLB in Atlanta against the defending World Series champion Braves.
Greene, a 22-year-old right-hander, was taken second overall in 2017 draft out of high school. He was immediately considered one of the top prospects in the game, but he had to undergo Tommy John surgery in 2019. Between that and the lack of a minor-league season in 2020, Greene’s progress was set back a bit, but he’s still ready to make his big-league debut before his 23rd birthday.
CBS Sports’ R.J. Anderson ranked Greene as the No. 26 prospect in baseball entering this season.
Welcome to The Show, Hunter Greene!
The Reds’ 2017 first-round pick and current No. 1 prospect is scheduled to start and make his major league debut Sunday, April 10 in Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/6yllTK9lZw
Last season, Greene made seven starts for Double-A Chattanooga and 14 for Triple-A Louisville. He was 10-8 with a 3.30 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 139 strikeouts against 39 walks in 106 1/3 innings. In three innings of work in spring training games this year, Greene hasn’t allowed a run. He’s struck out three and has not issued a walk in that span.
The Reds are going to open the season with starters Luis Castillo and Mike Minor on the injured list. Another possible member of the rotation, Justin Dunn — who came over in the trade that sent Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez to the Mariners — is also on the shelf.
Greene lights up the radar gun with a high-90s fastball that bleeds up into triple digits, though there are concerns it lacks movement. He complements that with a high-80s slider that has good bite. A cutter and change are also in his arsenal.
Don’t expect Greene to log a full season’s workload in the majors. After all, he barely threw more than 100 innings in the minors last season. The injuries to the rotation opened the door here for a debut earlier than the Reds likely planned, but give them props for giving him a shot to open the season with the big club.
© 2004-2022 CBS Interactive. All Rights Reserved.
CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. Commissioner.com is a registered trademark of CBS Interactive Inc.
Images by Getty Images and US Presswire