Hunter Greene makes Marlins flounder as Reds gaff Fish, 3-1

The words ‘only MLB rookie in the modern era’ don’t get thrown around too often, and when they do, you’ve either done something very, very impressive, or very, very not.

In the case of Hunter Greene, his outing against the Miami Marlins on Monday night put him very much in the former category, his excellence powering the Cincinnati Reds to a 3-1 victory in South Florida. Credit to @StatsBySTATS, and to former Red Reporter fearless leader Joel Luckhaupt, who pointed us in the direction of just how unhittable Greene has been at his best this year:

When the company you keep with 1-hit starts is nobody, well, I’ll do my best to overlook the bumps in the road from this rookie season of Greene’s. When he’s been good, he’s been damn near untouchable, and that’s the kind of thing we can only hope he builds upon as he matures from this rookie campaign.

Albert Almora, Jr. had a 3 for 4 night that included a pair of doubles and pair of ribbies, his return to the lineup coinciding with the trade that sent Tommy Pham to the Boston Red Sox. Safe to say we’ll see plenty of the former 1st round pick for the rest of the season if he can stay healthy, as his team control for 2023 puts him in a position to cement a spot in the future Reds OF rotation if he can find a way to hit once again.

Joey Votto singled, scored, and walked twice in a very ho-hum old school Joey outing, and this was an all-around solid victory for a club that’s clearly in transition at the moment, even if Hunter Strickland barfed up another run in a sketchy 9th inning.

Tony Graphanino (link)

Other Notes

• The official trade deadline is at 6 PM ET tomorrow, and there are still many, many expected moves to be made that will shake up the league. Juan Soto could move. Tyler Mahle could, too. We’ll do our best to keep it covered throughout.
• Speaking of moves, Pham’s move to Boston was for a mere PTBNL, so don’t expect much more than a lottery ticket. Presumably the Reds got his entire salary off the books for that, though, and his buyout - which for these team owners might be more important anyway.
• Tomorrow’s start is set for 6:40 PM ET, so we’ll have all the trade news wrapped up before the start. Graham Ashcraft will toe the rubber opposite Braxton Garrett.
• Tunes.