In the game of baseball, you are only as good as your next day’s starting pitcher. This statement could not be truer than for the upstart Cincinnati Reds who appear to be turning the corner and in the mix of competing for a playoff berth this season. Having not only one starting pitcher with All-Star potential in Hunter Greene who is currently 4-3 with a 2.72 ERA they now have last year’s No. 2 overall pick Chase Burns on the major league roster. Bruns made his major league debut this past Tuesday against The New York Yankees and their vaunted lineup and pitched to a no-decision.
The rookie right-hander showed why he was drafted second overall as he generated eight K’s and even touched 100 mph on the radar gun with his electric fastball twice. Even more impressive is that Burnes has become the second Reds pitcher since 1920 to strike out the side in his first inning of his MLB debut. When Hunter Greene comes back from the injured list, these two fireballers could make history.
Hunter Greene Coming Off All-Star 2024 & Pitching Better This Season Before Injury
Greene is coming off a career year in 2024, when he earned his first All-Star nod and finished eighth in Cy Young voting after posting a 2.75 ERA over 26 starts. When healthy this season, Greene has continued his dominance in 11 starts before his latest setback. Greene Machine has posted a 2.72 ERA with 73 strikeouts in 59.2 innings pitched.
Back in April 2023, the Reds locked him up long-term, signing him to a six-year, $53 million extension with a club option for a seventh year—keeping him under contract through 2028, with the potential to extend into 2029 on one of baseball’s most team-friendly deals.
This season, Greene has battled the injury bug again, missing valuable starts with a recurring right groin strain that landed him on the 15-day injured list from May 8–23. The issue resurfaced during his June 3 start against the Milwaukee Brewers, landing the right-hander on the injured list again.
According to the latest update the Reds received, the next big milestone in Greene’s rehab is a bullpen session scheduled for the team’s upcoming road trip to Boston. ‘The next big mark on Hunter Greene’s plan is a bullpen session in Boston that he’ll throw when the team is there next week,” the post read.
As Cincinnati chases its first playoff berth in five years, Greene’s return—and his ability to pitch deep into games—will be pivotal to the Reds’ late-season push.
Can Hunter Greene & Chase Burns Bring Black Ace Flavor To Cincinnati?
The potential one two punch of black pitchers lead us to go into the archives and ask the question, has there ever been a prominent one two punch in the rotation that are black pitchers? While there may be a tough find to locate two black pitchers on the same team we have to go back and recognize legends like Don Newcombe who won 20 games twice and was the first black pitcher to start a World Series Game (1949), the first Black 20-game winner.
Sam “Toothpick” Jones who pitched in the Negro Leagues who pitched for the Cleveland Indians in 1951 was the first Black pitcher to throw a no-hitter. Jim “Mudcat” Grant, who 14 years after Don Newcombe won 20 games in the National League, became the first to do it in the American League with 21 wins and a .750 winning percentage.
MLB Has Had 15 Black Aces: Pitchers Who Won 20 games Or More In A Season
Any list of “Black Ace” pitchers – the 15 pitchers in MLB history who have won 20 or more games in a season – has to include some of the more notable names. Bob Gibson, Hall of Famer, with over 3,000 strikeouts and forced baseball to lower the mound after his dominant 1968 season, posting a 1.12 ERA. Earl Wilson the first black pitcher for the Boston Red Sox and Fergie Jenkins, who boasts seven seasons of 20 wins or more. The list moves into the modern era with names like Vida Blue, Al Downing, J.R. Richard, Mike Norris, Dwight Gooden and Dave “Smoke” Stewart. The most recent crop includes CC Sabathia, who will be inducted into Baseball Hall Of Fame in July. Also, World Series Champion Dontrelle Willis & David Price who was the No.1 overall pick in 2007.
Hunter Greene & Chase Burns have the chance to blaze their own historic path with great examples of Black pitching excellence from the days of the Negro Leagues to present day. When they take the mound, they are not just pitching for themselves or the Cincinnati Reds they have a chance to become a duo that is looked back on as one that set a standard of Black Pitching Excellence that can take this ball club to new heights.
