The Reds are placing right-hander Hunter Greene back on the injured list due to soreness in his right elbow. Greene missed the first three-plus months of the 2026 season after a spring procedure to remove loose bodies from that same elbow. The team hasn’t provided a formal diagnosis or provided a timetable for his return.

Details on this injury are still a bit scarce. Per Charlie Goldsmith of Charlie’s Chalkboard, president of baseball operations Nick Krall says that Greene felt some soreness throwing a side session on Tuesday. He is going to visit Dr. Neal ElAttrache to get more information.

The Reds and Greene will therefore be in a holding pattern for the time being but it’s ominous news for the club and its fans. Greene is an incredibly talented pitcher but injuries have become a frustrating part of his career to this point. This is his fifth major league season but he has spent at least some time on the IL in each one. In terms of the elbow, he spent a little over a month on the IL in 2024 due to soreness. This year, as mentioned, he had loose bodies removed and was on the IL until July.

The news hurts the Reds in the short term, though it was feeling as though the season was already slipping away from them. They are currently 54-58 and five games back of a playoff spot. They’re not totally buried but they did some modest selling ahead of the deadline, flipping out Nathaniel Lowe and Caleb Ferguson in small deals.

Whatever chances of a late-season run they had are surely lower now. Greene has an ugly 6.83 earned run average in his five starts this year but that’s mostly due to an awful 49.4% strand rate. His 27.3% strikeout rate and 7.4% walk rate are strong figures. Over time, his ERA almost certainly would have moved closer to his 3.82 career mark.

While he’s out, the Cincinnati rotation is down to Chase Burns, Brady Singer, Rhett Lowder and Andrew Abbott. Nick Lodolo is on the IL but began a rehab assignment today and tossed 65 pitches over 4 1/3 innings, so he’s not far off. Brandon Williamson is also on a rehab assignment and could be in the mix soon as well. Julian Aguiar is on optional assignment but is on the minor league IL. Jose Franco is also on optional assignment but just got sent down a week ago. He can’t be recalled until 15 days have elapsed from that optioning unless directly replacing an injured player. Nate Peterson is one of the non-roster options.

There is potentially greater concern in looking past the short term. Greene’s elbow has already been an issue this year and any kind of significant surgery could potentially see him sidelined into 2027. That would be a big blow to the club’s rotation next year. Singer is an impending free agent. If Greene is subtracted, that would leave them with Burns, Abbott and a host of question marks.

Photo courtesy of Katie Stratman, Imagn Images