The Cincinnati Reds received the news they were dreading. Reds’ ace starting pitcher Hunter Greene will undergo arthroscopic elbow surgery to remove bone chips and loose bodies, sidelining the 26-year-old Cincinnati star until July, according to Reds’ reporter Charlie Goldsmith and other sources. Greenes’s injury creates a huge rotation void just weeks before MLB Opening Day.
Cincinnati Reds’ Hunter Greene Out Until July With Elbow Injury
The Cincinnati Reds confirmed on Tuesday that Greene will have the procedure performed on Wednesday by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles, with a 14-to-16-week recovery timeline. According to Goldsmith, GM Nick Krall and manager Terry Francona said the elbow issue dates back to September and that ElAttrache had urged for an injection last fall.
When healthy, Greene was electric in 2025. He went 7-4 with a 2.76 ERA and 0.94 WHIP across 19 starts and 107⅔ innings, striking out 132 batters at an 11.0 K/9 rate. It was a career low in starts, as he also missed time with groin issues. However, his per-start dominance was undeniable on the national stage.
Cincinnati Reds Hunter Greene Injury: Timeline and Details
Greene’s elbow trouble didn’t come out of nowhere. He dealt with discomfort during his final starts of 2025, and after consultation with ElAttrache in the offseason, he received an injection roughly one week before spring training. The hope was that the injection would resolve the issue without the need for surgery.
Krall said ElAttrache recommended the injection in October, which is why Greene didn’t have the procedure then.
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It didn’t. Greene left camp on March 4 with stiffness in his right elbow, returned to Cincinnati to see Dr. Timothy Kremchek, and was then sent to Los Angeles for further evaluation by ElAttrache. The good news is that Greene’s UCL is clean — this is not a Tommy John situation.
That distinction matters. Greene already had Tommy John surgery in 2019, also performed by ElAttrache, so any elbow concern with this pitcher carries extra weight. But bone chip removal is a far less severe procedure, and a July return is realistic if rehab goes smoothly.
Greene isn’t facing a career-altering setback, but the Reds are facing a brutal first half without him.
Hunter Greene is Unhittable When Throwing Hard
Greene’s 99.5 mph average four-seam fastball velocity led all of Major League Baseball among pitchers throwing at least 1,250 pitches, and his 296 pitches at 100 mph or higher ranked second in the majors behind only Oakland’s Mason Miller. Greene was an All-Star in 2024 and was trending toward an even bigger role as the Reds’ unquestioned ace heading into 2026.
The former No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft has the kind of arm you simply cannot replace. That being said, the Reds have some young pitching talent, such as Chase Burns and Rhett Lowder, who may be forced into much bigger roles.
The team announced earlier this week that southpaw Andrew Abbott will get the 2026 Opening Day start on the mound for the Reds. Abbott, a 2025 All-Star, logged a 2.87 ERA across 166.1 innings pitched while racking up 149 strikeouts for the Reds last season. The team will surely need him to be a workhorse again while Greene is on the shelf.
Cincinnati Reds Announce Brutal Hunter Greene Injury News