The Cincinnati Reds offense struggled again on Thursday night, but they did just enough to pull out a win thanks to a brilliant performance by Hunter Greene. The Reds righty allowed just one hit as he struck out nine batters in a complete game shutout as Cincinnati beat the Cubs 1-0 to start their final home stand of the regular season and keep pace with the Mets in the wild card race.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cubs (88-65) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (77-76) | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| W: Greene (7-4) L: Rea (10-7) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The Reds would pick up back-to-back singles with one out in the 1st inning but a strikeout and a lineout would strand both runners.
Hunter Greene was cruising along, having not allowed a baserunner through four innings. In the bottom of the 4th his offense would come through for him. Austin Hays led off with a double into right-center and then scored when Will Benson doubled into right-center later in the inning to put Cincinnati up 1-0.
The top of the 5th inning was interesting to say the least. Greene lost his perfect game big on an error by Elly De La Cruz when he couldn’t come up with a hard grounder back up the middle cleanly. Three batters later Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a laser towards right field. Spencer Steer dove to his right for it and it grazed his glove and then hit Moises Ballesteros directly in the side of his helmet, knocking it off and stunning him in the process. The ball then headed out to center field where TJ Friedl was able to pick it up and throw to second base to get a force out to end the inning and in the process keep Greene’s no-hitter alive.
In the top of the 7th inning the no-hitter came to an end with two outs when Seiya Suzuki doubled past a diving Sal Stewart at third base. Greene came back and got an easy groundout on the next pitch to keep the Reds up 1-0.
On the other side it was Colin Rea taking care of the Cincinnati hitters. After giving up the RBI double to Benson in the 4th, he retired 11 straight batters and struck out the final two of the inning to give him 11 for the day. After Greene tossed another shutout inning, the Cubs turned to their bullpen in the bottom of the 8th and handed things to Michael Soroka to face the bottom of the Reds lineup. He worked around a walk to keep the game at 1-0.
Hunter Greene took the mound for the top of the 9th with 93 pitches and no margin for error despite allowing just one hit in the game to that point. He needed eight pitches and a deep breath to get the first out of the inning as Michael Busch flew out to the warning track in right field. Eight more pitches led to back-to-back strikeouts to end the game in a 1-0 victory for the Reds.
Key Moment of the Game
Writing Hunter Greene’s name on the lineup card. He did everything in his power to keep the Cubs off of the scoreboard. And he succeeded.
Notes Worth Noting
With the shutout, Hunter Greene lowered his ERA to 2.74 on the season. He has allowed 70 hits and walked 24 batters in his 101.2 innings this season. Greene now has 125 strikeouts on the season.
The Reds only had four hits on the day and just one walk. Two of those hits came from Austin Hays.
The Mets won earlier today, so the Reds gained no ground on them. Arizona had the day off, so they are now tied with Cincinnati at two games back of New York. The Giants game doesn’t start until 10:10pm as they take on the Dodgers. They will enter that game 2.5 games back of the Mets.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Chicago Cubs vs Cincinnati Reds
Friday September 19th, 6:40pm ET
Shota Imanaga (9-7, 3.29 ERA) vs Nick Lodolo (8-8, 3.30 ERA)
Greene Day! Simply an outstanding performance. Greene doing what an ace of a staff does. That was a phenomenal game to watch if you enjoy pitching.
To quote Simple Minds “Alive and Kicking.”
Agreed. Phenomenal. Sure would be nice to see Hunter pitch in some playoff games in a Reds uniform before he leaves us.
I am however disappointed that Colin Rea – who was available to anyone this past off season for peanuts – can strike out 12 Reds hitters.
Wow, just wow, but I expected this kind of performance from Greene. As I said late last night, if Greene and Lodolo pitch to their capability, we will win these two games, dont care what the offense does. Greene proved me right today. Can’t wait to see Lodolo pitch tomorrow.
Thank you Reds!
and Will Benson comes thru with the double to give Hunter Greene something to work with.
I see that Doug did NOT go with what I forecasted about the ‘key moment of the game’ in the game thread: Benson’s game winning double in the 4th. I’m exceptionally upset and extremely disappointed, el jefe!
Greene gets a complete game, onehit shutout. So, what.
It was the only other one I considered, if that makes you feel any better!
But when you get a performance like the one from Greene…..
I’m just joking around, per usual.
getting tired of the jokes on national t.v. from broadcasters about “Great American Smallpark.” well i guess it wasn’t small enough for you Cubbies tonight!
That was probably the most dominant start I have ever seen by a Reds pitcher. Browning and Seaver had better results but that was against a great lineup in a small ballpark. Busting it up there at 102 in the 9th is unprecedented by one of our guys. Hunter has a little Bob Gibson in him.
Homer Bailey No Hitters and Wade Miley No Hitter come to mind.
Or did you forget those.
Also watch Cueto and Rijo pitch was pretty awesome too. Oh, and Castillo.
Love seeing dominant pitching coming from the Reds side of things.
You’re right, Jay, but it’s always a treat to see an ace shut down an opponent and Hunter did that emphatically.
Does anyone think that our starting 3rd baseman would have made the play to save the no hitter
Yes, as well as Espinal, and possibly Marte.
From where Stewart was playing only Hayes could have had any chance to even get to it. I did think maybe he should have been closer to the line protecting against an extra base hit in a 1 run game but that is not on him.
I don’t think there is any doubt that Hayes would have made that play. Range is one of Stewart’s weak areas and why many have written him off at the 2B position. We all knew this but his bat looks to be pretty special.The curious thing to me is the acquisition of KeBryan Hayes. He is a gold glove 3B guy but the frickin Pirates couldn’t tolerate his poor bat any longer. (Are you listening McLain and Steer?). Very fair question on where Stewart is going to end up playing. Without Hayes, it would have almost certainly been 3B. I will never get this cat Krall. We need offense and he trades a top 10 prospect and quality bullpen piece to the Pirates for a no power 235 hitter who seems to be blocking our No. 1 prospect. I am not real big on penciling Stew in at 1B because that seems to be a prime position for the 35HR guy we so badly need.
We are weak defensively, too, and that impacts the pitching: it allows guys to get on base who shouldn’t have, some of them score, the pitcher has to throw extra pitches, the bullpen has to cover more innings. Hayes is one of the game’s premier defenders, and he’s hit pretty well for the Reds, and has had some good exit velos. The Reds apparently thought that they could work with him and find a more productive approach, and it seems possible that they have and that it’s working. At any rate, a good team needs hitting, pitching and defense. Put Sal at first base: He’s billed as a power hitter. The corner outfield positions are also traditional power slots and, besides, why on earth does it matter where the power comes from?
Hayes has done pretty darn well since coming over to the Reds. Many have documented this. Yes, his history with the Pirates who are a pretty bad team is not very good. He was probably thrilled when he got traded and that is why his numbers as a Red are pretty good.
ps. Having back problems can really stink. I know having some of my own throughout my life. The fact he has been able to produce anything is impressive in itself. Back injuries are nagging injuries they come and go. Hopefully he will miss only a few games and feel better when he is back.
I was surprised Sal wasn’t pulled for a defensive replacement – or moved to DH late in the game.
Unless he was injured, Hayes should be your third baseman late in a game when you are up by 1 run.
Similar to when Tito had Ryan Vilade playing left field in 9th inning when Nick Martinez was throwing a no hitter in July. Will benson would have gotten to that ball.
Sal was pulled for Hayes in the ninth (?) inning.
Rules clarification… You can’t move a player from a position to DH. You also can’t move a DH to a position, without losing your DH.
You can’t move a position player to DH. You also can’t move your DH to a position, without losing your DH.
And apparently, I can’t make comments properly anymore 😉
LW>> You’ve been away from here and missed the attempted hacking and some of the apparent collateral intermittent quirks from the defensive measures Doug had to put in place. 😉
My comments occasionally seem to just disappear into the bit bin, but then eventually make a delayed appearance on a subsequent refresh. And the duplicate comment flagger isn’t always on the job.
Doug is working on all this stuff.
Prior to the game yesterday, it was revealed that Ke’Bryan Hayes back was acting up, and he could not play. I don’t know if he will start against the Cubs, but maybe come on as a late inning defensive replacement, like last night.
I don’t know if he can stand out there for 9 innings.
Marvelous Greene… A 1-hit shutout against one of the best offenses in baseball. Reds remain in the wild card race 2 games back with 9 games to go….they are back above .500 mark… Benson brought in home the only run of the game..
The matchup for tomorrow looks even between lefties Imanaga and Lodolo. Hope Lodolo can stand out and get help from Nationals, Phillies and Dodgers…
Benson in his last 15 games: .308/.321/.808/1.029
No, 1.129 OPS
Sorry – did my figurin’ wrong.
That’s good, right? I really want to see the new Will Benson get 450+ at bats next year, in a potent outfield with Friedl, Marte and Rece Hinds. But it was still Hunter Greene’s night. Fantastic outing and I loved his response after he finished off Happ to end the game, and his post-game interview with the Fox crew. Absolute baller longing! One down, 7 wins to go. Go Reds!
Yes Benson seems to be coming around but is not too far removed from being such a poor hitter and sent to AAA. I do like his swing. So smooth it does not look like it will go far when he hits it but it sure does go far.
I was out all evening and just had a chance to check the score. Referring to the previous article, this is why you don’t trade a guy like Greene. Elly though, his head doesn’t seem to be in the game right now. He appears to need a break.
Elly leading all MLB in errors with 25!
I wonder how to get him to snap out of his funk? Sit one day to remind him he’s not super-human? I did like the day he played DH.
Quick check. Elly is 6-19 (.316) with a .876 ops at DH. I think you’re onto something, but Andujar is one of our best bats when he’s available.
He should try not using a mit, like cricket players.
I really hope they take him off SS this winter. CF seems to be screaming his name.
Ozzie Smith, Barry Larkin and Cal Ripken had lots of errors in their first few years.
Hopefully this gets one of the less-than-three-runs-scored-every-third-game out of the way…with a victory…thanks to the ace of this staff…
…of whom, too many in here wanted to see moved to the bullpen or traded not too long ago.
Hopefully the offense gets hot for the final nine games…and then some.
Do not trade Hunter. He is a generational talent and on a team friendly deal.
I do however want to see us trade from starting pitching this off season to acquire an offensive talent that we can’t get via free agency.
Hunter is also frequently hurt and the Reds have gone no where in the years they have had him. Reds have many holes to fill and someone like Greene can get you at least two very good players. IMHO Reds need to make some bold moves because they clearly don’t have the money to get this team anywhere but mediocrity at best. BTW same deal/story for Elly again IMO.
It’s a strange argument, that the Reds have gone nowhere while Greene has been here. It’s a team game, and successful teams generally are decent to good at pitching, hitting and fielding. No one player, no matter how good, will lead a team that is lacking in these areas to the WS. OT can give you specifics, but the Reds’ teams of the mid 50’s had fearsome lineups but lesser pitching and didn’t make it to the Series. Why create a weakness in one area to shore up another?
3 more with the Cubs. They’ve hit Assad & Tailon (Sat/Sunday) in the past, but then again they killed Rea before tonight. Imanaga the lefty tomorrow night and he’s given up 7 HRs in his last 4 starts. I like Stewart to bounce back tomorrow and Andujar kills lefties.
Whatever happens they can’t lose another game to the Mets. If we’re still 2 back on Monday morning then thats ok.
We catch a break in that we miss Horton and he faces the Mets. They get Horton, Boyd, and Rea. Thats our chance to pickup the 2 games, but the Pirates usually cause us issues. None of it is likely
Reds are 6-4 against the Pirates this year.
Insolvent Greene returns to being solvent Greene.
But is he still soilent?
+50,000
One of the best B SciFi flicks ever (especially given the A-list casting)
This and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (78) are 2 of my favorites. Amazing casts in both.
Jason, Donald Sutherland out in SF in a trenchcoat …
The Andromeda Strain got my attention as a kid.
Can’t forget Yul Brenner in Westworld, though, though.
Oh man, those are all good ones @DaveCT.
Oh man yes! It’s been too long since I’ve watched The Adromeda Strain! That was a classic. I’m going to have to watch that again. My mom was an avid reader and loved Michael Crichton books. I read them as I got older. She had great taste.
Along those lines I also really dug Coma. The book was excellent as was the movie. I watched that one kinda religiously going through med school.
Westworld! Brynner was great. I remember renting that from the video store quite often. My wife isn’t a big fan of the movie but loved the HBO series.
Ha! Man, Sutherland absolutely owned it! I’ve got that image of him ingrained in my brain.
Awesome outing by Hunter Greene. Such bad hitting, I was surprised Rea gave Benson a fastball to hit. It seemed like that curve/slider? Rea was throwing, the Reds were going down on every at bat when I was able to watch a little of the game.
Greene’s a true Ace when healthy it seems now. I wonder if a team would give at least 2 of their top 3 prospects in the offseason for Greene? I’m not sure. Every team seems to overvalue their prospects these days. I know trading him many fans think would be dumb, but if you’re going to finish 81-81 or so with Greene every year, it’s worth thinking about what he could potentially bring in a trade I think.
No way! Trading Hunter – and his team friendly contact – would require major league talent in return. You don’t trade that leaguers who may never figure it out.
Hunter has figured it out! I would like him to average more starts during this next phase of his career though. He is a stud. Need to get him into the playoffs and let him feast!
Yes we do need to get him, the rest of the players and all of us into the playoffs. Clearly that is easier said than done. I see no reason at the moment the Reds finish much better next year. Of course things can change this winter but given our track record and money or lack their of to spend says otherwise. I do agree if/when we do trade Greene we will most certainly get back MLB ready players and very good ones at that. At least two very good everyday hitters. Do I want to trade him?Heck no. Do I think we really need to, sadly yes. Reds have been in the playoffs a grand total of five times since 1990 and I think were bounce in the first round each time.
All great points. He is a stud when healthy and on the mound. His contract is team friendly for many more years. The But here is that he has won like 25-30 games in 4 years …..learning curve and health setbacks.
I wouldn’t trade him either, primarily because of contract, age, and stud ability when healthy. But seriously, we need to get some thump in here. Our most valuable trade piece might be Burns with Lodolo, McLain, and Marte a tier behind. I think Burns just might get you just about anyone you want. As the Reds probably wouldn’t trade Burns for someone like Soto or Acuna because of the payroll impact, therein lies a problem. Maybe Nick Kurtz? The As probably wouldn’t do it. The point is the same. We need a 35 HR, 900 OPS guy and it probably needs to come via one of our young starting pitchers. Maybe more to get the bat(s) we need in here. Krall just can’t continue this fantasy that 2-3 guys on the Reds are going to have a bounce back year. He would like it to work but it hasn’t yet and isn’t going to in 2026. Start with the Braves (Acuna, Olsen, Riley) and the As (Kurtz, Rooker) and see what it would take to pry one of those guys away.
It’s hard to believe that some of you still want to trade Hunter Greene. He came within a lousy pitch selection and range-limited 3B of the league’s first no-no last night, and he kept it under 110 pitches. He’s dominant almost all the time; the coin toss on Hunter is whether he’ll be efficient. But when he is, look out. I know it would be nice to see him throw 200+ innings a year, but 160 innings of HG is better than 200 innings of a 4.50 ERA backend guy. We should be plotting to make a Greene a Red for his entire career.
I was more disappointed the offense could get no momentum against Rea, but hopefully they’ll bounce back tonight.
Agree on Greene. The last time the Reds traded an ace quality guy, it was Luis Castillo at the 2022 deadline. They got 4 “prospects” in return
Two were pitchers who are now out of the Reds organization with no return. One was lost on waivers (Levi Stoudt), and the other (Andrew Moore) was traded for Connor Joe (who, in turn, was outrighted off the Reds 40 man roster).
The other two were heralded shortstop prospects. Edwin Arroyo has yet to progress beyond class AA, where he finished this season with an OPS of .716. The other was Noveli Marte, who has been converted into a promising outfielder with the Reds MLB club.
Meanwhile, Castillo signed a somewhat team friendly extension with his new team, the Mariners, amid media reports that his agent had tried to negotiate a similar deal with the Reds ahead of the trade but had met with a cold shoulder treatment.
“160 innings of HG is better than 200 innings of a 4.50 ERA backend guy.”
Perfect statement, I’m quoting that.
I get sick and tired of reading people who want to trade him simply because he’s been hurt a few times. So what? When he does pitch, there are few in MLB that are better than Hunter. I’d rather have 160 innings of ace-level pitching than 200 innings of league-average pitching (from a guy like Brady Singer) any day.
Not to say Singer isn’t valuable. He is a solid #3/#4 starter, and I’m glad the Reds have him. But he’s not an ace, and he never will be. Hunter Greene IS an ace.
Wow best post I have seen on here lately. Thanks for that reading.
Hunter Greene needs to stay at least through his current deal and maybe even beyond that. Really would like to keep Singer and Abbott. Hopefully some of the guys who missed most of this year can come back and have good seasons. Thinking Williamson (though he has been gone a long time) or Brett Lowder had really good stuff while he pitched at the big-league level.
I agree with you. If we are going to win in the next few years it’s going to be because of our pitching, and that all begins with Greene. He’s an actual Ace, not just a team’s best pitcher.
If you are trading pitching in the offseason, it should be a Lodolo, or Singer, but Greene, Abbott, and Burns should be no go zones.
Better yet let the Reds just spend money on a bat and keep their pitching staff intact.
Exactly. I would be okay if their only free agent acquisition were a quality bat. Unfortunately, the current economic structure typically pushes the AAV or length beyond the comfort zone for small-market teams. Until he signs elsewhere, I will dream of Schwarber as our next DH, and if he’s the only free agent, so be it.
Well, I know Schwarber or Alonzo seem out of reach, and are unlikely additions due to our franchises m.o., but the team could afford one.
They just couldn’t afford to be wrong.
Yeah, I would like to think they could afford one player like that, but the opportunity cost is they are super limited in adding depth pieces via FA, AND you are absolutely right: catastrophic consequences if the elite acquisition has their production fall back into the average range or below. At the point where the team is with its core group of pre-FA talent, I would take that risk for the right player.
Hey Nick in NKY I am sure most of us don’t want to trade Greene but I for one feel we have to. I have already made two or so posts about this same thing today. Your post says a lot about why we need are good bonafide everyday hitters. We are all disappointed in the offense and have been for quite a while. We are strong with pitching and weak with hitting. Since a team needs to be strong in both to win and we don’t have the money to go out and get free agents we need to make trades and not trades that don’t move the needle. We have been doing that for a long time and gotten us no where. Greene would bring a great haul in the places where the Reds need it most. Hitting.
When is the last time anyone has seen Elly smile? Even though he’s a young guy with hundreds of millions in his future, I feel a little bad for him. I miss the uber confident guy scoring from 2nd on a pickoff throw. No hesitation whatsoever rounding 3rd.
They can’t afford a Schwarber and most of the other guys in the lineup are limited.
If he’s below .800 ops they’ll never make a real run.
Hundreds of millions in his future? Not the Elly of 2025. Something has happened but the exit velocity of the balls he does put in play have taken a dramatic step back. He simply appears disinterested. I think everyone on the team except Espinal has had a home run since Elly last hit one! He leads all of MLB in errors , is hitting below .200 over the past two months, and as stated has no home runs over that time. Now he must prove out of the gate next season who he really is. Baseball history is full of phenoms who burst on the scene as the next great star and then fizzled out very quickly .
He’s been having leg issues most of the season and that could certainly have sapped his power. And his sister died mid-season. I don’t doubt that he’s depressed about that and depressed about his play.
Wow…disinterested.
EDLC’s joy is gone, but I do not think he is disinterested. Count me among those who believe he is grieving the loss of his sister on a public stage in front of millions of people every game. His personal vulnerability has been further shown to him by the nagging leg issues.
Either of these situations on its own is a lot for a 23 year old to process and move onward and upward from.
Hopefully, he will have himself back on track for 2026.
+100000000
Your thoughts on the matter echo my own perfectly. He is also being pitched very differently and he has struggled to adjust.
He seems to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, which is understandable given his family’s loss even before his failures on the field in the second half.
But there is also the fact he was put into a leadership role at age 23, when it’s pretty clear he may not have been ready for that role (he may not even have leadership ability, yet anyway). Nor does he have much of a supporting cast. Sending Elly off ‘once more into the breach,’ with little offense in front of him or behind him was a set-up and still is.
Being a joyful, energetic, freakishly gifted athlete will not fill leadership needs of this team. Productive, mature players will. Just two years ago, Stephenson and India were assigned those job, which I thought was folly, as the former is more of a supporting cast player while the latter wasn’t productive enough. This year, Hays was supposed to help, but he went missing. Trevino probably has the best leadership ability combined with top shelf experience, but he’s the 1-B catcher. Friedl leads by example. Steer can as well. McLain was supposed to co-lead the team with Elly (strike two with that plan). Who else, then? Candelario? Fraley? Espinal?
I imagine Elly is quite discouraged. He’ll have to navigate that. It’s one way people grow. But I wouldn’t be surprised whatsoever if he is also frustrated with how thin the lineup is.
It occurs to me the playoffs may never have been in the plans for 2025. That this is ‘the year too early.’ That’s not a bad thing, as the core of this group will learn from this and be better prepared next year. However, if that is the case, why assign Elly and McLain such high profile team leadership roles? Why not let them spend a year developing their talents?
Absolutely pitiful showing in fan attendance last night. Thursday night, va a division rival , while only 2 games out of a playoff spot, with beautiful weather.
Where are you Cincinnati? I wouldn’t blame the team at all if they move when the GABP lease is up.
The same thought occurred to me. The Reds marketing department is likely as short sighted and short circuited as the baseball side seems to be.
Seems odd to blame a marketing department for fan disinterest during a playoff chase. In reality, long-term losing is the larger culprit.
Yeah, the losing is the root cause, but they can do things to fannies in seats. And fannies in seats make for concession, accessory, and souvenir sales.
If they don’t want to give away or discount tickets on the front end, there certainly have to be opportunities with some of their corporate sponsors.
Football season and school have both started and Cincinnati is unfortunately, no longer really a baseball town. It’s sad.
Plus, the economy is not very strong right now. A lot of families are careful about spending extra money currently.
Good point on that too @JayTheRed
They’re all at Oktoberfest. I believe the Oktoberfest in Cincinnati is top 3 in the world. Downtown gets jam packed.
I guess they’ve found other places to go, shout out to Phil Castillini.
Truthfully this team doesn’t have what it takes in crunch time (see results of extra innings games this year), and I think most fans recognize that.
Overall, changes in ownership would go a long way to bringing back the fans, imo. Or changes in approaches. Enough with the gimmicks (bobbleheads, concerts, fireworks, etc.), how about you spend enough to build a winning organization?
I think Krall has done a masterful job with what he has been given, FTR. And, didn’t hate Bell (but think Tito is an improvement.) The pressure should be on the ownership group to improve their product and then the customer will show up. Who goes to a meh restaurant hoping that by supporting it will turn it into a better restaurant? Good restaurants have plenty of support. The Reds fans will show up for good product.
+1000000, Redgoggles
A change in ownership won’t change the flawed competitive landscape in MLB that results in a small group of teams getting the best free agents year after year. That said, it’s hard to imagine Cincinnati ever warming up to Phil Castellini.
Overall, 2025 Reds attendance is up about 1,900 fans per home game (26,832) from 2024, according to ESPN. Last night, attendance was about 18,500 or about 8K below average. It’s just one night, and a school/work evening, so I wouldn’t want to draw too many conclusions.
+10000000, BK.
Well attendance after school starts has been an issue for 20 years or more. Even though last night was a 7:15 game, these 6:40 games are an issue.
The thought was stay downtown after work go to eat then go to the game. Well COVID changed that. Even though more people are back in the office, 6:40 games should be a non starter.
In addition, this team has always been touted as a regional franchise. If you live in Dayton, Louisville or Lexington, no way you can get home from work and make it to the ballpark.
In early 80’s games started at 8:05. More than enough time for regional fans to get to a ball game.
Wow, what a bunch of pitiful excuses for not watching a team’s best pitcher in the playoff hunt on a Thursday night. Most people don’t even work on Friday in today’s work from home economy.
Of the 1.76 million adults that live in metro Cincinnati area, we couldn’t get 30,000 of them to watch a professional baseball game?
Y’all aren’t competing with the Yankees for attendance. You’re competing with the diamondbacks, Brewers, Giants and Braves. And local Reds fans are failing miserably.
The franchise pitcher icon just called you out during a post game interview. If you think these players care about what happened from 2012 thru 2024 you are sadly mistaken. No wonder Elly doesn’t have much joy playing baseball anymore.
Y’all arent going to compete with Milwaukee
I did not watch the game, but read that there was a mound visit in the 8th or 9th with no one on. Was that Tito coming out to pull Hunter?
Best I recall only Tyler Stevenson made mound visits. Possibly pitch com problems although then never replaced any of the hardware
Gotcha. I just imagined Tito coming out for the ball and Hunter refusing to let him have it. lol
If I recall, there was a Stephenson mound visit after a late inning warning track fly ball out. I thought at the time the Cubs were sending up a pinch hitter and the visit was to be squared on how to pitch him. However, that turned out not to be the case.
Didn’t Hunter complain about the “signal” device not working? He kept saying “I can’t hear you.”
I think there was a pitch com issue, was just Stephenson.
I think Hunter Greene is a positive in the clubhouse, plus he’s a talent you build around: an example is the Dodgers Clayton Kershaw. Some players you don’t trade at the first opportunity.
Hopefully Chase Burns is paying attention and jumps on the HG development train.
Benson has been on a heater since Francona decided to bring him off the shelf and let him play. He had 1 fastball to hit, among an heavy dose of breaking pitches, and he drilled it to drive in Hayes.
As frustrating as the offense can be, HG was an absolute winner, winner, chicken dinner last night. I mean WOW!!
Beat the Stupid Cubs and whiff Happ to seal the deal is my kind of game.
+100000000. A pleasure to watch.
The offense, which is offensive at times, just makes Greene’s performance that much more electric and outstanding. These pitchers know that they need to be almost perfect every outing.
Tip of the cap to these starters.
If Hunter Greene and the Reds medical and training staff can somehow manage to keep Greene healthy for a full season, he could very well win a Cy Young. When it comes to health, some of it is luck, some of it is good genes, and some of it is training and conditioning. With pitchers it is even trickier due to the tremendous stress that pitching puts on the human arm. I think we’d all love to see what a fully healthy Hunter Greene can do over a full season, making 33 or 34 starts. He is always a pleasure to watch.
He’ll get his no hitter one of these days
The Reds’ offense doin’ what they do best. Score one run, and make the pitcher feel like he has to be perfect.
Big time performance by HG and a timely hit from Benson. Great to be on the right end of a 1-0 game against a playoff team.
I wouldn’t trade any of the Red’s starting pitchers.
I wouldn’t, either.
Agree. We know teams need more than five to make it through the season. 26-man rosters are more dynamic than they were even ten years ago. Good team-building plans account for the depth necessary to deal with that reality.
I agree.
The retort to that is how do you plan to get a couple 850-900 OPS bats in here? The only alternative route is free agency and the type of guys the Reds need cost $30M a pop. Luis Robert and his $20M salary comes no closer to fulfilling the Reds need than Rece Hinds or CES or Espinal. We need a proven big time bat (or two) like Schwarber or Acuna or Soto. I just don’t think free agency is a viable option when you are talking $25-35M spendout for the need you have. Possibly Big Bob won the lottery and I am wrong about that.
Keeping the 235 Club (McLain, Stephenson, Steer, Benson) intact with great starting pitching is only going to get you a redo of 2025. and 15 games behind the Cubs and Brew Crew. That is not an option in my view. We need 1-2 Big Bats ……not Austin Hays or Gavin Lux or Rece Hinds.
Re: “The retort to that is how do you plan to get a couple 850-900 OPS bats in here?“
You develop them like you did the pitching staff per the organizational direction . De La Cruz and Stewart have a very good chance of being those players.
Amen on not trading the starters. That’s all we have.
HG tipped over 100 IP last night, ranking 5th on this years Reds team. This is the first year since 2021 that the Reds have had 5 pitchers throw at least 100 innings. The SP health this year (HG aside) has been pretty decent. Here are starters who have ranked 5th in innings pitched the last 10 years:
2025 – Hunter Greene (101.2 – 2.74 ERA)
2024 – Carson Spiers (90.2 – 5.46 ERA)
2023 – Luke Weaver (97.0 – 6.87 ERA)
2022 – Mike Minor (98.0 – 6.06 ERA)
2021 – Vladimir Gutierrez (114.0 – 4.74 ERA)
2020 – Tejay Antone (35.1 – 2.80) **Covid year exception**
2019 – Tanner Roark (110.1 – 4.24)
2018 – Tyler Mahle (112.0 – 4.98)
2017 – Sal Romano (87.0 – 4.45)
2016 – Blake Wood (76.2 – 3.99)
Some of these names should come with psychological trigger warnings. The quality of ML ready SP they have assembled is the single most positive thing this organization has going for it at the moment. It’s been a very long time since this could be said.
Good post Goggles
Look at the Dodgers pitching staff. They have a bazillion starters(slight exaggeration) pitching and IL. We have fewer, but at least we can afford the ones we have. They just rotate them in and out.
If I were Nick Krall, my first call would be to the A’s for one of those guys with 25-30 homers in return for Singer and a prospect or two. They need arms like we need hitters. If our team hit like they do, we have 90 wins already.
I have to say, the umpire Cam was awesome. Is that a Fox feature? Hitting a baseball at any level requires skills. Hitting an MLB pitcher is even harder than I imagined.
I like the idea but Jonathan India got you Singer. The As would want a heck of a lot more than a #4 starter for a young big bopper like Rooker or Kurtz. I would think they would want a potential #1 or #2 like Burns. Possibly Lodolo and a very high prospect gets you the deal. But yeah, get on the phone and resolve this critical need.
There is nothing preventing Hunter Greene from turning into a Tarik Skubal ace other than nagging injuries and the way the team limits their starting pitchers. Let the ace be an ace for now on. He more than proved it last night. We bring in RP’s in the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th, last night, we lose 6-1.
The reason why Hunter was able to finish the game last night is his pitch efficiency. He was at 93 pitches going into the 9th, and was under 15 pitches in every inning to that point. That’s what gives you an opportunity to finish it out.
However, that’s not always the case. As good as Hunter is, he is not always that efficient. There have been other times when he was pitching well, but due to pitch count was pulled after 6 innings or so.
Let’s hope Elly can come up big today and rest of series. While the last two months suggest no. I have to believe he can. He is too good to be this bad. Baseball for sure has a way of humbling a player. I still believe he is a future hall of fame player. Still young and has all the tools.