FunnellVision - The Hunter Games
It was reported yesterday that Hunter Greene will miss significant time with an elbow injury; could this have been avoided? Charlie Goldsmith wrote about this situation on his Substack, and here are the most important parts.
We knew last week that Hunter Greene would miss some time because of bone chips and loose bodies in his elbow. It was also revealed that he felt this pain late last season, but that nothing was revealed or done in-season to help remedy this. The news came across weirdly in that Greene entered camp “feeling good”, only to have the pain return. Now, all of a sudden, we have been given more insight into what really happened behind the scenes, and it’s quite the eye-opening situation.
Very interesting. First, Greene was very quiet about this, that’s for sure. Chances are that this injury took place well before he ever admitted it hurt, leading to him playing through the pain. Most athletes don’t ever want to admit that they’re hurting, simply because, as Franconca mentioned here, they’re either always in some pain or they don’t want to miss out on gameplay. In addition to that, there is some disconnect here in the sense that while Francona knew nothing about this situation, the pitching coach apparently did know and still allowed him to pitch. That’s a very concerning development, if true, because pitchers should never pitch when hurt. Not only does it hurt the outcome of the individual performance and hurt the team in the process, but, more importantly, it can also have a long-term impact on the player’s health as well.
According to this, Greene had an injection to begin the offseason. It feels like common sense that his elbow would feel better as a result, since the offseason workouts pale in comparison to the daily grind of an in-season schedule. Still, he spent the off-season recovering, and, wouldn’t you know it, his arm started hurting again once he started throwing hard. The fact that he could only throw his fastball and couldn’t get any spin or movement on his pitches is a huge red flag.
The good news here is that his UCL is intact, and that he plans on being ready to play later this year. As mentioned, though, the next steps after his recovery have yet to be determined. If he has a setback, these sixteen weeks could easily turn into twenty, and we’re looking at a return in mid-August. If the Reds aren’t contending for a playoff spot, perhaps Hunter Greene is one of those “September callup” situations where teams want to evaluate their talent for the 2027 season. At age 27 later this year, his future is still up in the air, though he’s young enough to earn his next big contract after the 2028 season. Still, this needs to be addressed now, and the timing is unfortunate. Had he been upfront with the situation back in October and had these loose bodies removed, he would be finishing up his rehab and ready to play sometime in May, similar to the way that Carlos Rodon is preparing for the season. Instead, now he’s potentially ready to play around the All-Star Break, assuming there are no setbacks, and with a potential labor-stoppage issue next spring, it’s unclear when he’ll get back to being the dominant force he once was.