Hunter Greene

[Ron Madden]

Charlie Goldsmith
@CharlieG__

Tommy Pham on Hunter Greene:

"He's close, man. So close. So close, you see it. You see the ability."

"It's just part of this process.

As a young player like him, you have those bumps in the road. All he can do is learn from every outing."

[westofyou]

Hunter is here to remind us that baseball is hard.

Damn hard

[Wonderful Monds]

I am starting to agree with those who say he needs more time in Louisville. He does need to develop the change up, and if he can’t throw it up here without it being a guaranteed meatball more or less, then he won’t throw it at all, and he’ll never develop the offspeed pitch he needs.

[Ohiohaybaler]

I am starting to agree with those who say he needs more time in Louisville. He does need to develop the change up, and if he can’t throw it up here without it being a guaranteed meatball more or less, then he won’t throw it at all, and he’ll never develop the offspeed pitch he needs.

Another fine start for “Boom Boom” Greene. And it’s fitting that he would get served up err… “started” on the Fourth of July. His ERA is now over 6 and if the score holds up, he will be leading the NL in losses. Glad I wasn’t there to witness it.

[kaldaniels]

I am starting to agree with those who say he needs more time in Louisville. He does need to develop the change up, and if he can’t throw it up here without it being a guaranteed meatball more or less, then he won’t throw it at all, and he’ll never develop the offspeed pitch he needs.

At minimum sent him down till after the ASB….he’s been one of the worst starters in baseball.

And that gets you an extra year of control, which if anything is valuable in trade talk.

[BenchRider]

I'm interested in seeing what he can add to the grounds crew myself

Hilarious. I came to this thread to see how many people were sticking by Hunter at the moment...

[Wonderful Monds]

nm

[MikeS21]

When you are talking about one of the youngest players in major league baseball, it’s fair to ask about the kid’s psyche. Would it be more beneficial for Greene to work on his off-speed stuff at AAA, where he would be challenged, but would not necessarily get his brains beat out every game? Or do you continue to allow him to take his lumps in the majors, where his confidence is being bombarded daily?

[membengal]

Sticking by Hunter? That would be insane...

oh. wait.

Bobby Nightengale
@nightengalejr
· 13h
Hunter Greene's first 15 starts of his career: 3-9 record, 5.72 ERA, 74 IP, 93 K, 32 BB, 20 HR, 5.53 FIP.

Luis Castillo's first 15 starts in 2018 (his first full year in MLB): 4-8 record, 5.77 ERA, 78 IP, 76 K, 31 BB, 17 HR, 5.24 FIP.

[RedTeamGo!]

Sticking by Hunter? That would be insane...

oh. wait.

This is very interesting, thank you for posting.

I do not recall, did Castillo have the change right out of the gates or did he develop it in response to the poor start to his career?

[UK Reds Fan]

When you are talking about one of the youngest players in major league baseball, it’s fair to ask about the kid’s psyche. Would it be more beneficial for Greene to work on his off-speed stuff at AAA, where he would be challenged, but would not necessarily get his brains beat out every game? Or do you continue to allow him to take his lumps in the majors, where his confidence is being bombarded daily?

Many said before the season...Greene needed to dominate AAA before being given the MLB job. The Reds did this is save $$$ but it will bite us in the butt in the end.

1. Why not pick up Miley's option at $10M and pitch him vs. giving him away to Cubs?
2. That allows Greene to start in AAA...work on his secondary pitches and we don't burn a year of service time on a throw away year regardless and he's going to throw up an era over 5...so what is the point?

Reds are just run so poorly in so many ways....it's truly terrible how the franchise is handled all the way around.

[MikeS21]

Many said before the season...Greene needed to dominate AAA before being given the MLB job. The Reds did this is save $$$ but it will bite us in the butt in the end.

1. Why not pick up Miley's option at $10M and pitch him vs. giving him away to Cubs?
2. That allows Greene to start in AAA...work on his secondary pitches and we don't burn a year of service time on a throw away year regardless and he's going to throw up an era over 5...so what is the point?

Reds are just run so poorly in so many ways....it's truly terrible how the franchise is handled all the way around.

Honestly, I think it’s more of a PR thing than anyone else. Hunter Greene is going to sell a boatload more tickets than Miley ever will. Even a struggling Greene will sell more tickets.

You are right, it’s a perennial issue with this franchise. Get a prospect that is well known and highly heralded, and the Reds short circuit development in order to sell tickets. It started with Brett Tomko, the same for Homer Bailey, and now Hunter Greene. Prospects who had some buzz around them, get rushed in order to sell tickets.

[mth123]

I just disagree with the notion that sending Greene down so he can throw the pitches that he needs to develop in a AAA game equates to giving up on him.

He has a good fastball, but if hitters are sitting on it, its not as effective as it would be if he could keep those hitters "honest'"

He has a swing and miss slider that is deceptive and has a big break. Unfortunately, because it breaks so much. its frequently not a strike. decent big-league hitters aren't going to be fooled by that when facing him multiple times per game.

He's working on a secondary slider that breaks differently and is in the zone more often, but its a work in progress. He has a straight change up that isn't big league caliber, so he rarely throws. Just once or twice per game to "show it."

Occasionally, he gets the slider over the plate and is dominant. It just doesn't happen often enough. Greene is clearly, even as he is currently pitching, one of the best 5 the Reds have to run out there right now, but the goal is for him to be an Ace for the next 5 to 10 years, not the best of a bad lot for 2022.

The question is whether he's going to get there faster by taking lumps in the big leagues and working on his pitches on the side or going to AAA and working on those pitches in minor league games where he can throw them a large percentage of the time with an umpire and opposing hitters to give him immediate feedback on his progress. I think throwing those pitches in games is the fastest way to get those pitches big league ready. It has nothing to do with giving up on him. Completely the opposite. The reds future depends on these young pitchers carrying the team to contention. Why not do what's necessary to get there? another 10 or so starts in 2022 don't mean anything. Finishing off Greene's development is what's important.

[RustyJ]

This is very interesting, thank you for posting.

I do not recall, did Castillo have the change right out of the gates or did he develop it in response to the poor start to his career?

Always had the change. With the Reds at least.

[Wayne Krivsky]

The thing that always gets mentioned is a pitcher going to AAA to work on their stuff, and I'm not sure how true that really is.

Do minor league players really look at AAA as an opportunity to not worry about winning, and just work on their game in preparation for the next level? Is Hunter Greene really going to throw his off speed pitches X amount of time because he needs the work if his fastball is working just fine? I just dont see that happening the way fans expect. You have a manager who's main goal is to win games to keep a job. You have a roster mostly of guys who will likely never get to the majors and if they do it's short lived. I mean most of the guys in the AAA clubhouse have made it as high as they realistically will go, and probably focus more on winning games and trying to win a minor league championship is more important to them than Hunter Greene throwing change ups. I'm not sure what the truth really is, the closest I have ever gotten to a AAA clubhouse was 5th row seats behind the dugout.

I say this as a fan of sending Hunter Greene down for a bit if it's good for his confidence. I'm a fan of it if the Reds are still able to keep an extra year of control over the player. I'm a fan of it if Derek Johnson really sees the opportunity for him to work on his stuff down there. I'm not against sending the guy down....I just don't know from a players perspective if he really gets a chance to work on his stuff the way we think. Is he going to be mandated to throw a change up to every hitter he sees? That gives me bad flashbacks to the Dan O'Brien hitters have to take at least one pitch rule.

Maybe I'm waaay off base here? I really dont know.