It wasn’t more than two weeks ago that I reported that Hunter Greene had hit 104 MPH multiple times in an outing he had in Goodyear during spring training. Well, in his last outing the Cincinnati Reds top prospect did one better. The right-handed starter hit 105 MPH with his fastball. Pitch velocity data only goes back so far, and as far as searchable data, it only goes back to 2007. As noted in the previous article, only two pitchers have ever hit 104 MPH twice in the Major Leagues – Aroldis Chapman and Jordan Hicks. They are also the only two pitchers to ever reach 105 MPH. We don’t have that kind of searchable data for minor league players, but no matter how you slice it – Hunter Greene is doing things that almost no other human being alive has ever done.
When I first heard about this from a contact, I reached out to some more people who are in Arizona to try and verify the information. Someone I spoke with said that they had heard the same information about 105 MPH. That was good news. But what they shared next was perhaps even better news.
The person said that Hunter Greene’s slider, when it has been on, is an elite pitch at the big league level. Now, the wording he used did suggest that it’s not always “on” at that level, but when you imagine a young pitcher who hasn’t had nearly as much developmental time as many his age, and couple that with his extreme athleticism and ability to also throw laserbeams at 105 MPH to the catcher, well it doesn’t take much imagination to think about how good he could be with continued development.
Austin Hendrick showed the power
Sunday was the first day of workouts in Goodyear for players in minor league camp who were not a part of “early minor league camp”. Last year’s 1st round draft pick for the Reds didn’t waste time leaving an impression. One person I spoke to said that he “hit a few balls into Goodyear airfield”. If you’ve never been to the spring training complex in Goodyear, I’ll share a google image below to illustrate the point that Hendrick was hitting baseballs a very, very long way (though not quite to the actual airfield which is about 800 feet to the security fence from the closest home plate from the complex).
The report on Hunter Greene reaching 105 MPH was first published for those who support the site at Patreon. You can show your support by signing up at Patreon.com/RedsMinorLeagues where you get access to some content early, and once the season begins you will get daily game recap, information, and top prospect rundowns in your inbox every morning.
Man, at worst, with Greene you have a multiple all-star closer like Chapman on your hands. I just hope the Reds take a good long time to let him develop a third pitch like Antone. 200IP far more valuable than 75IP.
? he has a plus fastball, plus slider, plus cut fastball , ave. change.
It’s amazing that he could throw 102, get hurt, have Tommy John surgery, come back and throw 105.
this happens at times. This is not unusual at all. Some pitchers actually come back throwing harder.
But can he miss bats?
Lol i’m not down in this player, I just like the word play
105 is great but did they say he was getting anyone out?
Yeah, they did.
Thanks for this on Both Players.
Feel like both have Nice Upside.
Good to see reports like this.
Missed a lot with no MILB last year.
Yeah, with camp starting on Sunday, *hopefully* there will be some more stuff coming out of Arizona to report on. And of course, less than one month: Minor League Opening Day
Yup Excited for more of your reports.
And we all are excited One Month MILB season.
A great feeling to have Doug.
Bet for you as well.
Much easier and Fun, for you to write about things as well.
Hey Kevinz!
Good to hear from you!
Thanks Rojo.
Been a Wild Year or so.
Added another Baby, which made things, much more Hectic.
Great addes a Baby, but not great timing at all haha.
Hope all is Well, Rojo.
Goo Reds, as always.
That’s great! Do we have any info about his spin rate? His fastball didn’t seem to have a lot of movement, but if you can keep that kind of heat on the edges, and add in a + slider, that’s a real tough pitcher.
I have very limited information on his spin rate from last year. I do not have anything from this year.
Will he need to dial back a bit to be a starter? I’d rather see 98-99 that he could repeat for 6 innings. I also wonder if 105 is risky- could it put him on fast track back to surgery?
Feeling really amazed at the moment when suddenly every draft year since 2011 (except a few) now has a large impact on the active roster, not to mention the next 6-7 years. There were times when it seemed like this was unlikely.
2017 pitched sparingly
2018 pitched 68 IP
2019 injured
2020 rehab & alt site
i assume the plan is for Greene to become a starter, but I wonder (aloud) how many years will it take until he can ramp up to 150~200 innings in a season?
Is 2022 a realistic expectation?