So much for Hunter Greene returning from the injured list soon after the All-Star break when the Cincinnati Reds can use their Opening Day starter most.
Greene, a first-time All-Star last year who was off to a strong start this year, had his injury rehab assignment pushed back because of recurring “tightness” in the area of the groin injury he suffered in early May and aggravated in late May.
Results this week of another MRI on the area came back clean enough that manager Terry Francona said the club was “really pleased” with the results.
“But he’s still feeling it, at times,” Francona said. “I think there’s not a lot of confidence there yet. Sometimes I think it feels fatigued. And we want to do the right thing.
“Sometimes it’s very difficult. That’s why we went out and got the MRI,” Francona said. “You ask somebody to go out there and let it loose and throw 100 mph, and you don’t want them worrying about anything.”
Greene threw a simulated-game inning last week followed by a bullpen session Saturday in Philadelphia in preparation for what was to be the first start Tuesday in a brief rehab assignment with Triple-A Louisville.
“I felt tightness,” he said. “Doesn’t make sense to go pitch when I still have a little tightness.”
Greene was originally diagnosed with a Grade 1 groin strain, and the team indicated the subsequent MRI after aggravating it showed no additional severity.
After consulting Monday afternoon with medial staff and team officials, Greene was scratched from Tuesday’s scheduled rehab start.
“We’re going to take some steps to give him a little more time so that when he does go out he’s rarin’ to go,” Francona said.
What that means for a new timeline for a return from the IL was not immediately clear. The original rehab schedule appeared to give him enough time at Louisville to make two starts and be evaluated for a possible return to the rotation in the first turn after next week’s break.
The latest news suggests a timeline that could push into August even without another setback.
“We’re going to take it day by day,” said Greene, who hasn’t pitched since aggravating the injury in a start May 28 in Kansas City.
That was his third start back from a two-week stretch for the original injury.
Greene is 4-3 in 11 starts this season, with a 2.72 ERA and 11 strikeouts per nine innings.
Meanwhile, Carson Spiers, who has been on the IL since April with a right shoulder impingement, is ready to start his minor-league rehab assignment and is scheduled to pitch as many as four innings Tuesday for Louisville.
Spiers made two starts and a four-inning relief appearance in April before landing on the injured list.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds pitcher Hunter Greene suffers setback from groin injury, scratched from rehab start
Reporting by Gordon Wittenmyer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
