Hunter Greene named Opening Day starter for Cincinnati Reds

Hunter Greene fired 4.0 scoreless innings of Cactus League ball today against a Chicago Cubs lineup featuring much of what figures to be their everyday lineup. While that surely was far from the lone reason the Cincinnati Reds chose this afternoon to name Greene their starter for Opening Day this season, it sure did make for a nice dovetail.

Here’s the Reds doing the announcing in tweet-form:

It’s quite the nod for Greene despite the immense talent in his right arm and the way he finished the 2022 season. After all, fellow rookie Nick Lodolo pretty well outperformed Greene in most every category last season and carries some pretty impressive prospect pedigree, too. It’ll be Lodolo starting Game Two with Graham Ashcraft following, however, as it appears the Reds are opting to break up their talented righties atop the rotation with the lefty Lodolo in between them.

Congrats to Hunter on the notable feather in his cap, and here’s to it being just the first of many heaps of praise thrown his way this season.