Cincinnati Reds ace Hunter Greene's injury timeline slams door on long-shot playoff hopes

PITTSBURGH – So much for that “best-case scenario” for ace Hunter Greene and the Cincinnati Reds .

Or at least so much for some interpretations of that term.

A day after manager David Bell said the second opinion on Greene’s sore elbow resulted in a “best-case scenario” that might have him back in the rotation by the end of the week, Greene rejoined the team in Pittsburgh and also described a best-case scenario of nothing worse than inflammation.

But not so fast on the timeline.

After an MRI and three medical opinions, Greene said he doesn’t expect to start throwing again until the inflammation subsides and hopes to be able to return sometime next month, in time to make two or three starts before the end of the season.

For an already fast-sinking team, that timeline might finally, definitively slam the door on whatever long-shot hopes might have remained for a late-season surge.

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For the $53-million, triple-digit velocity ace of the staff, it suggests the chance to finish off a breakout 2024 season and go into a healthy offseason with Cy Young-caliber plans for next year.

“My UCL looks fantastic,” Greene said of his surgically replaced ligament. “(Surgeon Neal) ElAttrache was actually surprised to see how good it looked, which was great. So to get all that reassurance and to know that my elbow’s clean is awesome.”

“Obviously, it was enough for me to have to skip my last start,” added Greene, who said the soreness he experienced after the Aug. 13 win against the Cardinals was the first time this season he had any issue with his body after a start.

“It looks like I need about two weeks or so for the inflammation to go down and to go away, and then I’ll start throwing again.”

A return to the mound before the end of the season “would be fantastic,” he said. “I feel like I owe that to the team and I owe that to myself to finish.”

As for a best-case timeline, he said, “I have no clue. I’d like to be able to finish with two or three more starts, but I’ve got to see how I feel in a few days or a week.”

A first-time All-Star this season, Greene is 9-4 with a 2.83 ERA in 24 starts, pitching his way into the Cy Young conversation until this issue effectively ended that bid.

He called the clean bill of health on the elbow structurally “huge for peace of mind.”

“The game is difficult,” he added “There’s a lot of stress that goes on throughout the career, throughout the season. You worry about certain things. But being able to have that experience to know if you’re really hurt or if you’re just sore, it’s being able to gauge all that stuff.

“And sometimes it’s difficult,” he said, “because you know that it is your career. And the only people that are going to have probably your best interest is your family and yourself. And that’s not saying anything against anybody else. But it’s the truth.

“So you’ve got to look out for you. So all those come into decision-making and the whole process of all of this.”

Greene's IL move came just three weeks after the Reds traded Opening Day starter Frankie Montas to the Brewers and a week before left-hander Andrew Abbott was sidelined with a shoulder strain.

Julian Aguiar was called up for a big-league debut in Greene's spot Monday in Toronto, with a second career start Saturday in Pittsburgh.

The Reds employed a bullpen day in a loss Friday night, and on Sunday they plan to start Nick Martinez on three days' rest, with rookie Carson Spiers available for multiple innings behind him.

Thirty-one games remain after that. They'd lost six of their last eight entering play Saturday, allowing 61 runs in the six losses.

“It’s been tough,” Greene said. “You want to be here for every start. “The season’s difficult. You have guys that spend time on the IL, that go down. But you look forward to being able to come back and produce for the team.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds ace Hunter Greene's injury timeline slams door on long-shot playoff hopes