The Cincinnati Reds got the kind of update they were dreading Friday afternoon: Hunter Greene is headed for surgery on his right elbow after seeking a second opinion.
President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall said Greene will have the procedure, and Pat Brennan of The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the operation will involve the area around Greene’s elbow ligament. The Reds still won’t know the full scope of the surgery until doctors get in there and begin the operation.
It’s the latest hit to a season that has already been derailed for Greene. He had surgery in March to remove bone spurs and loose bodies from his right elbow, and this will be the second surgery on his throwing arm this year. At this point, Greene’s season looks finished.
The right-hander made only five starts before the setback, and the results were all over the place. He turned in one dominant outing, had two rough ones, and was solid in the other two, though he never quite reached the level he’s built for himself - or the one Reds fans expect every time he takes the mound.
While Greene’s news landed hard, the Reds are also trying to keep the rotation moving with other arms. Nick Lodolo threw a rehab start on Wednesday, got through 65 pitches, and now appears set to rejoin the rotation. The current plan has him starting Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox.
Lodolo has dealt with blisters throughout his big league career, and that issue has sent him to the injured list twice this season. He has also changed the grip on his curveball, which makes the Reds’ decision to push him back this aggressively a little surprising. But Cincinnati is clearly trying to stay in the postseason hunt.
Lodolo is 3-2 with a 4.60 ERA this season, though the Reds have gone just 3-9 in games he has started in 2026.
The pitching shuffle doesn’t stop there. Andrew Abbott is moving up a day to pitch Thursday, which means Friday will be a bullpen game against the Washington Nationals. Chase Petty is expected to take the ball and the Reds will be hoping for at least two innings from him.
Petty has had mixed results since shifting to the bullpen. In 15 games, he owns a 4.50 ERA with 14 strikeouts and eight walks across 30 innings.
Washington will counter with Cade Cavalli, who is 8-5 with a 3.52 ERA. He’s coming off six innings of two-run ball against the Atlanta Braves in a 4-2 loss, and the Nationals have won three of his last four starts.
In Other News...
Reds Just Sent A Strong Message About Their Next Infield Hope
The Reds wasted little time pushing their newest infield investment into the upper levels of the system, sending Becker straight to High-A after bringing him aboard. The shortstop out of Virginia arrived with the kind of collegiate rsum that made him an attractive second-round addition, and Cincinnati is clearly treating him like a player who should be challenged early rather than eased along at the lower rungs.
For a farm system always looking for the next everyday option in the middle of the diamond, the assignment says plenty about how the Reds view his timeline. The move also came as the organization elevated top-30 pitching prospect Edgar Colon to High-A Dayton, another sign that the club is sorting through some intriguing young talent while it waits to see which arms and bats can handle the next test. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Prospect Pipeline Has 2 Names Rising And 1 Still Waiting
Hctor Rodrguezs Major League debut this season was another reminder that the Reds farm system keeps feeding the big-league roster, with Rodrguez becoming the sixth player from the organization to reach Cincinnati this year. It has been a useful run of development for a club that has leaned on young talent, and the pipeline still has more names worth tracking as the season turns toward its final stretch.
Jose Acua and Carlos Jorge are both in Triple-A and remain the most obvious candidates to be next if the Reds find themselves looking deeper into the organization later in 2026. Leo Balcazar, meanwhile, is still working his way through the minors after some performance issues, and the expectation is that he will stay there through next season rather than force his way into the active roster. [Read more 🡒]
Brandon Williamson Just Raised A Tough Reds Rotation Question
Brandon Williamsons path back to the Reds took another shaky turn this week, and it comes at a time when the rotation picture is already getting crowded. Williamson last appeared in a major league game on April 29 before landing on the injured list with left-shoulder fatigue, and his latest step in Triple-A Louisville was supposed to move him closer to Cincinnati. Instead, it left the club with even more to think about as Nick Lodolo nears a return and the staff keeps one eye on how to manage Chase Burns.
The bigger issue is no longer just whether Williamson is healthy enough to help, but how the Reds fit him in if he is. Cincinnati has enough moving parts in the rotation that Williamsons next stop could depend as much on roster math as on his arm, and that makes his comeback an uneasy one to sort out. The club also has some recent momentum at the plate, with four top hitters, including JJ Bleday, going deep in a recent game, but the pitching side now has a decision that could shape the next stretch of the season. [Read more 🡒]