Home
    Articles
    Hunter Greene (Photo: Doug Gray)
    Photo: Doug Gray

    Reds prospect Hunter Greene: I feel like I’m back

    Doug Gray 17

    If you are here at RedsMinorLeagues.com then you are probably aware of the fact that Hunter Greene was shut down late last July with a torn UCL. You have probably also read that instead of having Tommy John surgery he opted to go the rehab route. It’s one that pitchers Michael Lorenzen and Anthony DeSclafani have both had success with for the Reds in recent years. He noted at the end of October that he was 100% and feeling great. Greene began throwing in Goodyear on rehab back in early December. He’s been in Goodyear most of the offseason, getting prepared for the 2019 season. He spoke with MLB Pipeline a bit on Thursday about his rehab, and goals for 2019.

    There are a few things in thereto talk about. First is that he noted the plan was to get to 120.0 innings this season. That’s a fairly big jump up from the 68.1 that he threw in the 2018 season. He also noted that his goal was to reach Double-A this upcoming season. While he doesn’t know where he will begin the year, assuming he’s healthy, I’d be shocked if he started anywhere but in Daytona. That would put him in line with a call up to Double-A during the year with good performance. Whether that would be at the mid-season point, or later in the year – who knows? But that’s been how the Reds have traditionally done things with some of their top prospects who were getting it done in Daytona.

    Hunter Greene also mentioned that he’ll be throwing his sixth bullpen session tomorrow – which would be today, Friday the 22nd. Greene is not in big league camp with the Reds. Minor League pitchers and catchers don’t report, or at least aren’t required to report until February 28th. Some players are already in Goodyear, though. The Reds highly-touted right-handed pitcher is getting a head start and preparing to get going when the year begins.

    Reds have a Top 10 Farm System

    MLB Pipeline has been unveiling their Farm System Top 30 rankings. The National League Central saw their day come up yesterday, but the Cincinnati Reds weren’t listed. The reason is that a team that ranks inside the Top 10 farm systems in baseball will come out between February 26th and March 1st. The Reds were the only team in the division to not be listed – so the other four teams are outside of the Top 10 farm systems in baseball.

    Doug Gray
    Doug Gray is the owner and operator of this website and has been running it since 2006 in one variation or another.

    Related Posts

    17 Responses

    2. The proof is in the pudding. I certainly wish that they would allow him to take at-bats as a hitter. Consider it part of his physical conditioning. The odds of him being hit by a pitch that takes him to the DL is probably around 1%. In other words, the odds of him landing on the DL due to batting is substantially lower than pitching and needing TJ surgery.

      The future is bright for Hunter Greene I do believe that. But this upcoming season is going to tell us if he is a bust or not. He will either be our top prospect come September and slated for a 2020 debut or he’ll be out of the top 20 and sliding to namelessness.

    3. I’ll be shocked if the Reds aren’t in the 4-6 range for the MLB Pipeline rankings, so we have to wait until next Thursday to see those.

      Daytona sounds right for Greene. No need for him to pitch in the cold weather in Dayton again coming off an injury. A+/AA this year, AA/AAA in 2021, AAA to start 2022 and then a callup sometime during that season is what the timetable looks like if he can stay healthy. If he just flat out dominates, maybe that gets sped up a bit, but i’d rather see that first schedule to get to 120 IP this year, 150 in 2021, and ready for 180-190 in 2022

        1. Haha, good catch.

          2019: A+/AA, 120 IP
          2020: AA/AAA, 150 IP
          2021: AAA/MLB (midseason), 180+ IP
          2022: In the rotation through 2027 if not extended.

          Free agent in 2028 if not extended, at which point he’ll only be 28 years old.

      2. I agree with the slower moving unless he just goes out and man handles every league. But I still think you see him in 2021 out of the pen in September, hopefully during a playoff push.

    4. For the Reds to have a sustained run of success, our top 4 prospects need to be impact players. I think they can.

    5. If he’s succeeding in AA in late August, with 90-100 ip, then he’s getting the call up in Sept. for fan interest and a preview. Then splits 2020 in AAA and MLB, as they re-cobble the rotation next year and push into the “window”.

      1. We need to not make the same mistakes we made with Bailey. Don’t rush it just for fan interest and have him developing in the bigs and having to pay more for his prime years. If he just straight dominates and forces his way up, so be it, but I see no need to have him skip levels, especially when he needs to build up his innings over the next 2-3 years.

    6. No one needs to throw 100 mph to get hitters out. Doesn’t hurt though. Hopefully he learns to stay healthy over a full season. No one lasts 200 innings by pitching as hard as he does.

      1. I’d rather see him throw 94-97 with movement and command and just every now and then run one up to 99-100. Maybe 2-3 times a game.

    7. Reds having discussions with Jose Iglesias. Would we rather have Iglesias or Blandino as the IF back-up? Iglesias has had clubhouse issues in the past and isn’t exactly a guy who hustles from what I read. Would be nice to have that good defensive shortstop off the bench, but that will cost someone a job as well.

      Anyone else a little scared about Gray already having an elbow issue? They say they are just being overly cautious, but we’ve heard that before.

      1. I was worried day 1 because his starting era was over 5 2 out of the last 3 years and he was hurt in 2016 and 2017. Past injury is greatest predictor of injury

    8. I really think they need to let him stretch things out a bit with higher innings and pitch counts. It really isn’t useful to go 40 or 50 pitches every five days. He needs to be prepared to extend things a little more which will change his mind set to hold a little back for a longer outing. If they would extend him out like all the other pitchers he would prosper. They have held him back so much the first two years he feels he has to show all he has in a short stretch of time.

      1. There’s some truth there. He does seem overamped when he does pitch. His tempo seems very rushed…..I can’t think of any big league starters who are similar.

    Comments are closed.