Reds rookie pitcher Hunter Greene is closing in on this dubious record

Hunter Greene's first season in the big leagues is the very definition of a roller coaster ride. Last night, it was the home run ball that did him in once again. The Cincinnati Reds rookie has now allowed 22 round trippers over 79.1 innings of work in 2022.

Greene leads all pitchers in home runs allowed with his closest competitor sitting four back. Miami Marlins pitcher Elieser Hernandez and Baltimore Orioles hurler Bruce Zimmerman have each allowed 18 balls to leave the yard.

On the plus side, Greene is among the top pitchers in the league in terms of strikeouts. The flamethrower has punched out 98 batters which ranks 14th in all of Major League Baseball.

Will Hunter Greene break the Reds rookie record for HRs allowed?

The current record holder for most home runs allowed during a rookie season belongs to Rob Bell. In 2000, the former third-round draft pick allowed 32 home runs during his first year in the major leagues.

Bell finished the season with a 7-8 record in 26 starts and whiffed 112 batters through 140 innings of work. Bell was traded to the Texas Rangers the following season and allowed another 32 homers in 2001. Over his seven years in the majors, Bell surrendered 125 home runs. Let's hope a similar fate does not await Hunter Greene.

Let's not forget that Greene is only 22 years old and he missed out on key development due to elbow surgery following his first professional season and the coronavirus pandemic that cancelled the 2020 minor season.

To those who want to see Hunter Greene sent back to the minor leagues, I would simply ask one question. Is Greene one of the five best pitchers on the Cincinnati Reds roster? We all know the answer is yes, so he belongs in the big leagues.

Greene is going to take him lumps and learn from them during his first major league season. This team is 25 games under .500 and going nowhere, so it makes all the sense in the world to allow the young guys to learn on the job during what's going to be a lost season.