Greene’s return won’t flip a sinking Reds ship
Hunter Greene’s return to the rotation offers a glimmer of hope for a Reds team mired in last place, but the math and the roster don’t add up to a quick fix.
Hunter Greene makes his 2026 MLB return for the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night, throwing the first pitch of a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles at Great American Ballpark. The Reds, once division leaders, have collapsed to last place in the NL Central with a 19-34 record since early May, the worst in baseball over that span. Greene’s return is the franchise’s most tangible reason for optimism amid a roster-wide collapse that’s seen the rotation cycle through six different Opening Day starters already.
