Reds activate Hunter Greene to turn out the lights on another season at GABP

It’s the home finale this Sunday afternoon.

Hunter Greene, resident ace of the Cincinnati Reds and first time All Star in 2024, had firmly pitched his way into the conversation about the National League Cy Young Award when he hit the injured list on August 13th with an elbow issue.

To date, he still ranks 3rd among all Major League Baseball pitchers with 5.7 bWAR, behind only Chris Sale (6.4) and Tarik Skubal (6.1). He has so far logged 143.1 IP of 2.83 ERA ball this year, and as of Sunday afternoon he’ll finally be able to further those totals.

The Reds officially activated Greene ahead of their series finale against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, designating Alan Busenitz for assignment to make room.

With an off-day on Monday and five games remaining against the Cleveland Guardians and Chicago Cubs, there’s a great likelihood that Greene will get a pair of starts before his season ends. If he can pitch anywhere close to as well in those as he did in his previous 24 outings this year, odds are he’ll have an inside track to a runner-up finish to Sale in the NL Cy Young voting.

That may sound trivial in yet another bumbled season by the Reds, and I suppose it is in the grand scheme. However, a clause in Greene’s contract means he earns a $1 million bonus from the Reds each time he finishes 2nd or 3rd in CYA voting, and the dude deserves every extra dollar he can get out of the club. So, I’m firmly rootin’ for Greene to finish this breakout season with a pair of gems.

(He earns a $2 million bonus for actually winning the thing, by the way. Maybe he can fire a pair of no-no’s to wrap the year and watch Sale fall apart in his final start?)

Greene also returns in the season finale for Great American Ball Park, as this is the final home game on the slate for the Reds. They’ll host the Pirates and ace Paul Skenes at 1:10 PM ET on Sunday afternoon.

Lineups for that game are listed below. Welcome back, Hunter!