On April 7, the Cincinnati Reds’ offense was at a low point and the team was a season-low four games under .500. The entire clubhouse looked to Hunter Greene to do something special. He went out and threw 8⅔ shutout innings to carry the Reds to a win over the San Francisco Giants.
Looking back at that game, an early turning point for Cincinnati’s young season, Greene recognizes the attention to detail, composure, and confidence it took to deliver a game like that. “Especially in that game, it’s a high-leverage situation and the game is close,” he says. “Trying to focus on your pitches that much more is really the focus in the ninth inning. The focus becomes more and more and more crucial and important.”
That game proved that as Greene is becoming one of baseball’s bright young faces on the pitching side, he’s also growing into the role of a franchise player. The Reds actually have two of these young superstars in Greene and Elly De La Cruz.
“We’re super pumped to have them as teammates,” says Reds closer Emilio Pagán. “I hope the fans and the organization realize how important they are to this clubhouse and how important they are to the success of this organization. Just having guys that we can lean on and know they’re going to show up regardless of what is going on around them, that makes everybody’s job easier.”
Two things are simultaneously true about Greene: He’s the 34th-youngest starting pitcher in MLB as well as the fourth-longest-tenured Red. Because of his star power and his experience within the organization, his actions carry a lot more weight than they would for a typical 25-year-old in a big league clubhouse.
The story of Greene’s 2025 season has been the way he’s embraced the leadership role and backed it up with his actions. “He has been really, really consistent from Spring Training on,” says Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson. “There hasn’t been that dip. He has been the same. There have been pitches that are better than others on certain days, but he has still been really consistent. He deserves it. He has put in the work. He could be one of the best in the game.”
Johnson, catcher Tyler Stephenson, and President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall have known Greene since he was a teenager and have seen the entire journey. The franchise drafted Greene in 2017, and Krall remembers having dinner with him and his family following the draft. “They’re really great people,” says Krall. “It’s been great to see him mature both as a player and as a person. His parents have done a great job of raising him, obviously. He works his butt off. It’s a lot of fun to watch him progress from the minor leagues to the big leagues to getting hit around in the big leagues to now. It’s a constant maturation process.”
That’s been true for Greene as a pitcher as he refined his between-start routine, got into great shape, and developed a splitter. But the maturation process that Krall is describing goes far beyond what he’s done on the mound.
This year, Greene has been much more vocal about throwing support behind his teammates. Recently, after a spectacular start by Andrew Abbott, he complimented his teammate when he told reporters how “nasty” Abbott’s changeup was.
This side of Greene is also showing up after losses. When Ian Gibaut blew the save on Opening Day, Greene told him after the game how much the team believes in him. “Ian’s a ‘dog,’ and that’s what I told him,” Greene said later about the interaction. “He’s one of our best pitchers. I easily could not have done that and been selfish and stayed at my locker. That’s not who I am. That’s not my character.”
Last week in Baltimore, after a banged-up Carson Spiers took one for the team and covered the final four innings of a blowout loss, Greene asked reporters to mention Spiers’ contributions.
Even with one rough start in Baltimore on April 19, Greene has a 2.70 ERA through his first six starts in 2025 and has established himself as a Cy Young award contender. But when Terry Francona is asked about what he’s seeing from Greene, he stresses the work he’s seeing between starts. “You’re seeing a young good player find the next gear,” Francona says.
Greene is looking like the complete package. He can be one of the best pitchers in baseball, and he’s acting on the responsibilities that come with that. “We signed him to an extension,” Krall says of the six-year contract Greene signed in 2023, “because this is what we were hoping we were going to get.”
Charlie Goldsmith has covered the Reds and Bengals since 2020, and his newsletter on the teams can be found at charlieschalkboard.substack.com. He’s @CharlieG__ on X.
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