Hunter Greene Surgery Scheduled for Wednesday; Reds Ace Sidelined Until July

Cincinnati Reds right-hander Hunter Greene will undergo an arthroscopic procedure to remove bone chips from his right elbow on Wednesday.

Cincinnati Reds right-hander Hunter Greene will undergo an arthroscopic procedure this Wednesday to remove bone chips from his right elbow. The 26-year-old ace is not expected to return to the active roster until July, a significant blow to a rotation that relied on his major-league-leading 99.5 mph average four-seam fastball velocity. Greene exited the team's spring training facility in Arizona on Wednesday after reporting elbow stiffness. Following his departure from camp, he returned to Cincinnati for diagnostic imaging and consultations with medical specialists, including Dr. Neal ElAttrache. This Hunter Greene surgery comes as the pitcher enters his fifth big league season, following a 2025 campaign where he was limited to a career-low 19 starts and 107⅔ innings.

During the previous season, Greene posted a 7-4 record with a 2.76 ERA, helping Cincinnati secure its first postseason berth since 2020. Despite his limited availability last year due to two separate stints on the injured list, his power pitching remained elite. He recorded 296 pitches clocked at 100 mph or higher, a figure that ranked second in the major leagues behind only Mason Miller, who threw 422 such pitches. To combat his history of physical setbacks, Greene integrated additional lower-body conditioning into his most recent offseason training routine. This adjustment was specifically designed to prevent further injuries after he missed significant time during the 2025 season.

Impact on the Reds Pitching Rotation

With the ace unavailable for the first half of the season, the Cincinnati Reds have officially named left-hander Andrew Abbott as the Opening Day starter. Abbott will take the mound at home against the Boston Red Sox on March 26. This marks the first career Opening Day assignment for the 26-year-old southpaw. Abbott is entering his third season with the club and is coming off a year in which he earned his first career All-Star selection. He now leads a staff that must navigate at least three months without its primary velocity threat.

Greene’s absence creates a void in a rotation that saw him earn his first NL All-Star nod in 2024. During that breakout year, he finished with a 9-5 record and a 2.75 ERA across 26 starts. Even with a trip to the injured list for elbow soreness that season, he managed to strike out 169 batters in 150 1/3 innings of work. The recurring nature of his elbow issues has been a persistent hurdle, as the soreness managed in 2024 has now escalated to the point of requiring surgical intervention to remove loose bone fragments.

Historical Performance and Velocity Stats

The loss of Greene removes the most prolific high-velocity arm from the Cincinnati rotation. Among all major league pitchers who threw at least 1,250 pitches last season, no one surpassed Greene's 99.5 mph average on the four-seam fastball. His ability to maintain this speed was a cornerstone of the Reds' defensive strategy during their recent playoff run. The team now turns to Abbott to replicate the stability found during the 2020-2025 era, which saw the franchise return to October baseball for the first time in four years.

As Greene begins his rehabilitation process following the Wednesday procedure, the Reds must rely on the depth of a roster that has seen multiple key contributors spend time on the injured list over the past 24 months. The recovery timeline targeting July suggests that Greene will miss approximately half of the regular season. This puts immense pressure on the remaining starters to maintain the 2.76 ERA standard Greene set during his 19 starts last year. The medical team will monitor his progress post-operation to determine if the removal of the bone chips successfully addresses the stiffness that ended his Arizona spring training stint prematurely.