GOODYEAR, AZ. − As the Cincinnati Reds play the waiting game while ace pitcher Hunter Greene gets evaluated for right elbow stiffness, the team is keeping in mind that its pitching depth can be a strength.
Greene departed Reds spring training for an MRI and two medical opinions for an elbow issue he said dated back to roughly the final month of the 2025 season. Team officials were careful not to speculate t too much about Greene’s situation, and manager Terry Francona projected confidence when asked about the team’s starting pitcher depth.
“Regardless of what happens here (with Greene), you know, we’re not gonna throw in the towel,” Francona said. “We feel like we’ve worked too hard.”
Francona agreed with the idea the team should be able to lean on its depth should Greene face an absence of any kind, adding: “There’s a process here and I get it why you’re asking, but let’s just go through it and see what happens.”
Some kind of absence for Greene does appear to be likely as he’ll miss at least a full week of pitching work while he gets medical evaluations. The soonest possible date he could next throw would be March 10, President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall said.
Putting aside any possibility of a longterm injury, Francona said the math related to Greene being available for Opening Day on March 26 “gets a little difficult” just due to not throwing the rest of this week.
While the Reds and their fans await clarity on Greene’s elbow, many have wondered what a possible starting rotation might look like in Greene’s absence.
Many observers called for the Reds to trade from their apparent wealth of starting pitching to get a power bat this past offseason, but Krall and General Manager Brad Meador didn’t. Cincinnati’s personnel decision makers have often cited it’s almost unheard of to have just five starters see out an entire season and make all their scheduled starts (that hasn’t happened in Cincinnati since the 2012 season).
During a Feb. 20 episode of The Enquirer’s “Big Pod Machine” podcast, Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson said the team accounted for possible injuries as a philosophy within their roster builds.
“We do have more depth than we’ve had in quite some time,” Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson said. “Some of these decisions will be based around what happened last year, what we think they need from this year. And it’s like anything else: You never go through a season with the group that you started with. There’s always going to be a turnover because of injury or whatever, and then you have that second tier of guy that comes in and hopefully can do a good job for you and win you some ballgames.
“We’re really excited about the depth we do have.”
That logic could pay off early for Cincinnati in a 2026 campaign in which they’re expected to make waves in the National League Central and wild card races.
Reds’ fifth-starter competition can help fill out rotation
While the Reds haven’t telegraphed anything about the starting rotation, the working assumption from observers was that the starting rotation when Greene was healthy was that the rotation would look similar to last season’s: Greene (an All-Star), Andrew Abbott (an All-Star), Nick Lodolo (perhaps a strong candidate for All-Star status this year), innings-eater Brady Singer and one of he four players competing for the No. 5 spot in the rotation.
That competition for fifth starter was robust, and the possibility of Greene’s absence could require more than one of those players to end up with a starting job.
Rhett Lowder and Chase Burns, the club’s promising, 23-year-old duo, figured to be the frontrunners for the No. 5 spot, although Brandon Williamson had shown well early in spring training in his first action since missing all of 2025. Julian Aguiar started camp as a candidate for the No. 5 spot, too.
Lowder and Burns had the best numbers of the competing foursome as of March 5, and the numbers were impressive. Lowder allowed one earned run, two hits, two walks and seven strikeouts in his five innings of work against MLB opposition this spring (he also blanked the Cuban national team over three innings in a March 4 exhibition).
Burns had similar numbers: One earned run in 4 1/3 innings, two hits, seven strikeouts and five walks.
Burns and Lowder could both find themselves in the season-opening starting rotation in the event of an extended absence by Greene.
Williamson allowed two runs on three hits in four innings of work. He was 5-5 with a 4.23 ERA in 23 starts for the Reds in 2023, but has essentially missed the past two seasons to injury.
Behind them, there’s Chase Petty, who acknowledged during a March 4 interview he was probably on the outside looking in on the fifth rotation spot − for now.
You might not say the box scores attached to Petty’s name from his two starts and one relief appearance in 2025 equated to the textbook definition of success, but he saw and experienced a lot: Short-notice starts, getting knocked around in his debut, a long stint in the bullpen without an appearance, and the jitters that likely came with each of those experiences.
Now, those experiences are all in Petty’s proverbial tool box.
“Like last year, I was dying for the debut and it’s everyone’s dream, and I experienced it,” Petty said. “I experienced the ‘bad’ of the game up there. I got that ‘welcome to the big leagues’ moment − a couple times. And it’s a good thing knowing I got that out early in my career.
“I know that they got Burns. They got (Williamson). You got Rhett. They’ve got all these great competitors… I’m a realist. I know what’s going to happen up there and I know that when my name is called, I’m going to be ready to go back up there and do my job.”
Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona conceded the math didn’t appear to be in pitcher Hunter Greene’s favor in terms of starting the season on time.
Francona, speaking March 4, was careful not to assume anything about Greene’s situation as he was set to depart Reds camp to get medical advice for right elbow stiffness. Greene said the elbow became a concern over roughly the final month of the 2025 regular season. The issue reemerged again about a week before spring training started, and he reported discomfort after waking up March 3. His 2026 Cactus League debut was Feb. 28
The Reds said they hoped to have all the information about what Greene was dealing with in his elbow by March 10, so there was understandable hesitancy to speculate. But what was certain for Greene was he’d lose at least a full week of work, and that March 5 marked three weeks until Opening Day.
Even if medical opinions deemed him healthy enough to avoid a longer-term interruption to the season, his status still became a big question mark.
The questions in many corners of the fan base then turned to the rest of the Reds’ starting-pitcher group. How was Cincinnati fixed for starters, and did the team have viable options to survive some period of time without Greene if it came to that?
The Reds still like their depth at starting pitcher, and the team’s desire to compete won’t dim.
“Regardless of what happens here (with Greene), you know, we’re not gonna throw in the towel,” Francona said. “We’ve worked too hard.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Can Reds’ starter depth cover for possible extended Hunter Greene absence?
Reporting by Pat Brennan, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
