Cincinnati Reds prospect Hunter Greene, almost two full years removed from Tommy John surgery, has one clear goal in mind this year: Make it to the big leagues.
“I want to be there this season,” Greene said Sunday. “That’s solely my goal is to get there. That’s where my head’s been since I’ve been drafted, especially this offseason. I’ve worked extremely hard to put myself in the best position possible to succeed and to conquer that goal.”
Greene, the No. 2 pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, hasn’t pitched in a game since July 26, 2018 when he was at Class-A Dayton. He’s not in consideration for the Opening Day roster as the Reds want him to gain experience in the minor leagues, but there is no denying his talent.
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The 6-foot-5, 230-pound right-hander still has the eye-popping velocity on his fastball, which has reached 102 mph. But he knows the key to his success – and what may determine how quickly he reaches the big leagues – will be how well he develops his offspeed pitches. That was a focus when he pitched at the alternate site last year.
“We have to do what’s best for Hunter Greene,” Manager David Bell said. “If what’s best for Hunter Greene is to challenge him at the Major League level at some point in 2021, we certainly won’t hold him back from that. Not only for him, but for our team. We’ll have to see.”
Reds catcher Tucker Barnhart sought out Greene during the first pitchers and catchers workout, so that he could catch him for the first time. The two chatted after the bullpen, then Greene sent Barnhart a text later that night to thank him.
Barnhart caught another one of Greene’s bullpen sessions Sunday.
“He pointed me out,” Greene said. “He was like, ‘Hunt, let’s go. You’re with me.’ And I love that. I think I was putting my cleats on, I definitely wanted to throw to Tucker, but he beat me to the punch. He wanted me to pair up with me, which was great to get that feedback from him and know that he wanted to, one, make that connection, and also work together was pretty special.”
Barnhart said he thought Greene was impressive after their first bullpen session together and called his fastball “electric.” He loved Greene’s willingness to learn.
“Obviously, the talent is there,” Barnhart said. “It’s just going to be continuing to mature, get some innings on his arm and hopefully he’s up here sooner rather than later.”
Greene, 21, throws from a much lower arm slot than he did two years ago. It was a change that he made on his own, he said, from looking at old film and still photos.
“My elbow and my arm was pretty far back while my body was forward, so my arm wasn’t really along for the ride,” Greene said of his old delivery. “It was far back, which was putting a lot of stress on my shoulder as well and obviously my elbow. I wanted to shorten up my arm to make sure that my torso, my lower half, and my arm was kind of all synced up, all in one, so I can put less stress on my elbow.”
Greene was one of the 18 minor leaguers that the Reds invited to spring training early, which may give him opportunities to pitch in spring training games. Game experience will be important for him as he enters the season with 72 2/3 innings pitched in his pro career.
Bell thought the alternate site was a “great experience” for Greene because he faced upper-level hitters, but it was a controlled environment as he recovered from surgery on his elbow.
“My biggest takeaway was kind of learning more of the big-league life and just the day-to-day work, just kind of the expectations,” Greene said. “For me, it was just more of a learning process. Getting the innings in was great, but that wasn’t my focus going in. It was trying to soak up as much information as possible, just like I’m doing here.”
Now that Greene is further removed from his surgery, the reins are off. He’s focused on doing whatever he can to push his way to the big leagues and the Reds are anxious to see how he looks after a long layoff without pitching in a true game.
“It’s going on three years, right?” Greene said. “It’s different, man. It’s a different environment. You can throw all the live (bullpen sessions) you want, all the simulated games you want, but when you get into an actual stadium and you cross those lines, it’s totally different.
“I’m looking forward to it. I’m always looking forward to the challenge and being able to overcome it. Yeah man, it’ll be fun to get back out there, compete and do what I do.”
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