Ex-Reds All-Star saw Hunter Greene take familiar step forward in Cubs domination

The Cincinnati Reds got an all-time performance from Hunter Greene on Thursday night against the Chicago Cubs. The Reds' starter recorded his first complete-game shutout of the season, and allowed just one hit, while striking out nine to help lead Cincinnati to a 1-0 victory over Chicago.

Former All-Star infielder Zack Cozart, who played in Cincinnati for seven years, was watching the game Thursday night, and took to X to share his thoughts after the final out. Cozart made an intriguing link between Greene and one of his former teammates.

"Hunter Greene Ace game… first time I saw some (Johnny) Cueto mentality in him," Cozart wrote. The former Reds shortstop followed that up with, "He should have that mentality every game… separates the really good from the great… just saying."

Ex-Reds All-Star Zack Cozart called Hunter Greene's performance take familiar step forward in Cubs domination

Cozart and Cueto spent four-plus seasons together in Cincinnati, and the former Reds shortstop was present for the right-hander's All-Star season in 2014, in which he finished second in the NL Cy Young voting while leading the league in strikeouts, starts, and innings pitched.

Cozart's comments carry two interesting observations. First, he obviously sees that Greene has the stuff to be a frontline starter in the league. In 44 starts over the past two seasons combined, the fireballer owns a sparkling 2.75 ERA, 0.980 WHIP, 163 ERA+, and has 294 strikeouts over 252 innings pitched. That's flat-out dominance.

But Cozart's follow up when he talks about Greene needing to have that mentality every game is interesting, and may be a reference to the right-hander's inability to go deep into ball games. Though Greene has shown improvements — and went the full nine on Thursday versus the Cubs — he's still averaging less than six innings per start over the last two seasons. Cueto averaged almost 6⅓ innings per start, and totaled 11 complete games during his Reds career.

Greene's performance against the Cubs on Thursday could be a turning point for the young hurler. If Greene's able to stay off the IL, he could become a Cy Young finalist much like Cueto was in 2014.

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