The worst-case scenario has played out for Cincinnati Reds right-hander Hunter Greene.
Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall announced on Friday that Greene will officially undergo right elbow surgery to repair a torn UCL. Greene was placed on the 15-day injured list on Wednesday with right elbow soreness, and the outlook only got worse from there.
The extent of the surgery will not be known until the procedure is underway. Once surgeons get a closer look at the damaged UCL, they will decide whether the operation will be an internal brace procedure or Tommy John surgery. The former typically has a shorter timeline of full recovery; barring any setbacks, internal brace procedures usually sideline a pitcher for 12 months, while Tommy John surgery takes around 13-14 months.
“They’re going to go in there, find out what it is and go from there,” Krall said. “The ligament was failing. It’s going to be some sort of procedure around the ligament.”
Regardless of which procedure Greene undergoes, he will miss most of the 2027 season in addition to being out for the rest of 2026. His season concludes after just five starts, in which he posted an inflated 6.83 ERA and 1.37 WHIP over 27.2 innings despite striking out 33 batters.
Greene, who turned 27 years old on Thursday, is in the fourth season of a six-year, $53 million contract signed in 2023; the deal also contains a $21 million club option for 2029. The second overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft has shown promise in his five big league seasons, particularly with his velocity and strikeout prowess that allowed him to rack up 650 punchouts in 523.1 career innings.
Sadly, Greene has been plagued by injuries throughout his professional career. He previously underwent Tommy John surgery as a minor leaguer in 2019 and has landed on the injured list at some point during all five of his major league campaigns. Greene additionally began the 2026 season on the 60-day injured list due to an arthroscopic removal of bone spurs and loose bodies in his elbow.
The Reds are facing an uphill battle in the NL Wild Card race, as they are currently four games out of the third and final spot. Not having Greene will make that road even harder, while also putting a damper on their 2027 expectations despite having other young, talented starting pitchers like Chase Burns and Andrew Abbott.
