Can MLBbro Hunter Greene Shake Off Injuries, Medical Setbacks To Help Cincinnati Reds Reach Postseason?

Can MLBbro Hunter Greene Shake Off Injuries, Medical Setbacks To Help Cincinnati Reds Reach Postseason?

by | Sep 6, 2023 | THE THREE SPOT

The Cincinnati Reds are in a neck and neck race for those final wild card spots in the National League.

Battling teams like the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, Miami Marlins and the Chicago Cubs in their own division, the Reds need all hands-on deck, particularly on the mound, to make a successful push.

 

MLBbro Hunter Greene is definitely a very important player in making this happen, but what is included in the scenario is his health, which has been an issue for months. The MLBbro flamethrower had three starts after a nearly two-month hiatus on the injured list with a sore hip.  

 

 

After two tough outings where Greene gave up 13 earned runs in 6 ⅔ innings combined, he had a very strong outing against the San Francisco Giants, allowing only one run and three hits in 5 ⅓ innings in a 4-1 win. 

 

Then more bad news…the Reds placed Greene and two other pitchers (right-handed starter, Ben Lively and reliever Fernando Cruz) on the COVID-19 injured list last Friday.

 

A period that will last reportedly seven days according to Reds manager David Bell…

 

“Hunter will be on the COVID list for seven days,” Reds manager said. “He could pitch any time after that as long as he gets better each day. He could start on Friday. That would be the earliest.”

 

Hunter Green Can’t Catch A Break Right Now 

 

Before the hip injury, in 14 starts our MLBbro had a 2-4 record sporting a 3.93 ERA, 1.350 WHIP with an astonishing 12.3 strikeouts per nine innings. While Greene’s potential is undeniable, his ability to stay on the mound to realize it is key to Cincinnati’s chances to make the playoffs. His presence is paramount considering that fellow starting pitcher Nick Lodolo will be out for the season with injuries of his own. 

 

With our MLBbro’s rookie numbers including a 5-13 record, 4.44 ERA, 1.210 WHIP and 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings last season, the Reds thought highly enough of Greene’s talents to sign him to a six-year $53 million deal to be one of the cornerstones of the franchise.

 

 

Even though Hunter Greene is a work in progress, he brings a lot of interesting pitches to the mound on any given night…

 

Strengths on the mound for Hunter Greene:

 

His fastball is a bonafide 100+ mph when he’s on his game. Against the Los Angeles Dodgers last year, he set a record with an absurd 39 pitches topping the century mark. This performance was one of the defining moments of his young career…

 

Greene possesses a hard slider as a strong complement to his overpowering fastball to force hitters to make quick reads (or guesses) on the seams with relative success.

 

His changeup is a solid third pitch thanks to the velocity of his fastball to keep hitters off balance.

 

Weaknesses of Hunter Greene on the mound:

 

Even though our MLBbro has out of this world velocity on his fastball, it lacks the movement which leaves him vulnerable to mistakes of balls being left over the plate. Most of the homers that are given up particularly after coming off the IL when he leaves it in the top half of the strike zone…

 

With the Reds struggling throughout the month of August, they find themselves on the outside looking in to the playoff seedings as of this writing. If they have any chance of making a serious run, the Reds need strong quality starts from Hunter Greene as soon as he gets off the COVID-IL list presumably on Friday if all goes well with his health.

by | Apr 18, 2023 | FRONT STREET

MLBbro Hunter Greene was rolling against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday, until his outing was cut short by a comebacker to his right shin in the third inning.