Hunter Greene’s season is over, and the timeline stretches well beyond that.
The Reds right-hander underwent Tommy John surgery on Wednesday to repair a damaged ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, marking the second time he has had the procedure. The surgery will wipe out his 2026 season and likely keep him sidelined for most, if not all, of 2027.
Cincinnati announced on Friday that Greene would need elbow surgery, but the exact nature of the operation wasn’t clear until it was done. Greene had already had Tommy John surgery in 2019 while in the Minor Leagues, and he also went under the knife on March 11 for arthroscopic surgery to remove bone chips from the elbow.
“He said he was sore off and on for a couple of weeks," Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall told reporters on Friday at Nationals Park. "At the same time, it wasn’t something he brought to anyone’s attention because he thought it was just, ‘Hey, you’re coming off the bone chip surgery. You’re just going to push through it.’”
The elbow issue surfaced during Greene’s side bullpen session on Aug. 4.
He met with team orthopedic surgeon Dr. Tim Kremchek the following day and had an MRI.
On Aug. 6, he got a second opinion from Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles.
“Both said when you go in there, you’re going to find out what it is and then go from there," Krall said.
Greene, the second overall pick in the 2017 Draft, reached the Majors in 2022, but injuries have repeatedly interrupted his rise. He has landed on the injured list in every one of his five big league seasons.
The interruptions have also shaped his numbers. His career bests all came in 2024, when he logged 150 1/3 innings, made 26 starts and struck out 169 batters in his only All-Star season. In 2025, he went 7-4 with a 2.76 ERA in 19 starts, piling up 132 strikeouts over 107 2/3 innings despite two IL stints with a Grade 1 right groin strain.
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Hunter Greenes Latest Setback Leaves The Reds Facing A Brutal Reality
Hunter Greenes latest elbow setback has turned a season that was already going sideways into something far more sobering for the Reds. The right-hander was limited to just five starts in 2026 because of elbow issues, and his 6.83 ERA in that stretch never gave Cincinnati much reason to believe a turnaround was around the corner. For a team that invested in Greene with a six-year extension in 2023, the expectation was stability at the front of the rotation. Instead, the Reds are staring at another long stretch without one of their most talented arms.
The bigger concern now is how much time Greene will miss and how long the organization will be dealing with the fallout. His contract runs through 2028 with a club option for 2029, so this is not just a short-term setback for the Reds but a major roster and payroll problem layered on top of the baseball loss. Cincinnati has built plenty of its recent outlook around Greenes upside, and the reality is that the club will have to keep moving without him for a while. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Face Huge 2027 Rotation Test Without Hunter Greene
With Hunter Greene facing a long recovery from elbow surgery, the Reds are already looking ahead to a 2027 rotation picture that could look very different from the one they planned around not long ago. Greene has been the clubs ace, but the organization has spent enough time developing and collecting young arms that there is at least a sense of stability around what comes next.
Chase Burns, Andrew Abbott and Nick Lodolo give Cincinnati a strong starting point, and Rhett Lowders return from injury has added another encouraging layer. The Reds believe that group can keep them in the mix for a playoff push in 2027, even if Greene is not part of that equation for a while. The question now is how quickly that depth can translate from promise to production. [Read more 🡒]
Rhett Lowder Is Finally Giving Reds Fans A Real Reason To Believe
Rhett Lowders first full season of real expectations has taken a winding path, from injuries wiping out all of 2025 to an early-season stretch that pushed him out of the rotation and into the bullpen. For a Reds team always looking for homegrown pitching to stabilize the picture, his development has mattered almost as much as his results, because the organization drafted him in 2023 with the hope he could become part of the next wave.
Since he returned to starting, the signs have been better. Lowder has put together a 3.22 ERA over his last four starts and has shown improved control, which is exactly the sort of progress Cincinnati needed to see after the rocky start. He has said the time in the bullpen gave him a different view of pitching and game management, and even if the bigger test is still ahead, he is at least giving the Reds reason to think the upside is still very much there. [Read more 🡒]