Reds need Hunter Greene to rebound following disastrous return from the injured list

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Hunter Greene is going to see balls leave the yard. If you throw as hard as he does, when opposing batters connect, the ball is going to fly a long way.

But Greene was absolutely rocked during his first start back from the injured list last Sunday. According to Baseball Savant, nine of the 10 hits that Greene allowed on Sunday came off the bat at 95 mph or higher. Two other batted balls made that same type of contact but resulted in outs.

When it comes to strikeouts, Greene among the very best in the league. With a strikeout-rate above 30-percent, Greene among the 90th percentile in Major League Baseball. But being in the bottom 5-percentile in hard-hit percentage (47.2-percent) is going to cancel out those Ks pretty quickly.

Reds need Hunter Greene to rebound following disastrous return from the IL.

With Hunter Greene, you're going to take the good with the bad. Unfortunately, there was more bad than good during Sunday's start against the Toronto Blue Jays. Greene must figure out a way to execute his pitches better tonight in the desert against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

But it wasn't his fastball that was getting pummeled. Only four those hard-hit balls came off Greene's heater. The other five came off his breaking ball and off-speed pitch. Historically this season, that has not been the case. According to Baseball Savant, Greene's hard-hit percentage on his fastball (52.8-percent) versus his slider (35.5-percent) is almost 20 points different.

Now it's a bit unfair to be overly critical of Hunter Greene upon his first start following an extended stay on the injured list. But, with Greene's start being moved up from Saturday until today in order to keep the right-hander on four days rest, you have to assume that he's ready to go physically.

Greene needs a stronger showing tonight in order to get momentum back on his side. Without the addition of a starter at the trade deadline, and the grim news about Nick Lodolo's latest rehab start, there was a lot of pressure thrust upon Greene's shoulders. Let's hope he gets back to himself tonight.