Hunter Greene – Bringing the Heat (Literally)

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Normally, it’s hard to get excited early in the season when a rookie pitcher loses his second MLB start 5-2 on the road and that’s exactly what Hunter Greene did Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.  Yes, it was a bit of a homecoming for Greene since he hails from Sherman Oaks, CA in the San Fernando Valley not too far away from Chavez Ravine but it was how Hunter Greene made history in this loss that is already going down in the baseball history books.

What really happened?  Well, for those who are just casual baseball followers, Hunter Greene threw 39 pitches that were clocked over 100 mph with 13 of them over 101 mph.  This is a feat that has never happened since MLB started tracking this statistic back in 2008.  For a veteran pitcher, throwing that many radar gun busters is one heck of an accomplishment; for a rookie RHP in exactly his second outing as a big league hurler, this is beyond noteworthy.  Hunter Greene is not only cementing his role on the Cincinnati Reds’ starting rotation but is a pitcher to be feared by MLB hitters.  By throwing his trademark four seam fastball, Greene averaged 100.2 mph on this pitch while throwing 13 of them over 101 mph and one did top the radar gun at a blazing 102.  Dodger batters on Saturday night fanned on 13 of Greene’s pitches in 28 swings while 10 more were called strikes.  Greene used the inside of the plate to dominate Dodger batters until the fifth inning and let’s face it, anything remotely close to your body coming at you going 100+ mph is going to be a bit scary.

For all of this hoopla about pitching speed, Hunter Greene seems to be settling in on the Reds starting rotation and solidifying his move to the big league roster this spring.  Greene is a 2017graduate of Notre Dame High school in Sherman Oaks, CA and turned down a baseball scholarship to UCLA in order to sign a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds.  Despite having Tommy John surgery in 2019 where his stock dropped, Green was able to battle back in 2021 and split his time between Double and Triple A ball.  As Greene develops as a fastball pitcher, it should be noted that he also has a nasty slider as his secondary pitch that can move at about 99 mph as well.  Once batters become more accustomed to Greene’s four seamer (his choice 71% of the time in his first two outings.) he will no doubt be developing more pitches in his arsenal to stay ahead of batters who learn to time up his fastballs.  If Greene can keep his arm healthy, his career will be fun to watch as it starts unfolding this season.