Reds keep raiding Wake Forest pitching lab with latest signing

The Cincinnati Reds made a couple of under-the-radar signings this week. According to the team's transactions log, the Reds signed a pair of free agent right-handed pitchers — Griffen Green and Connor O'Hara.

Green spent last season at Wake Forest, a university that has produced the Reds' top draft picks in two of the past three years. Cincinnati selected Rhett Lowder with the No. 7-overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, and Chase Burns was taken second-overall in 2024.

Unlike both Lowder and Burns, Green is not a starting pitcher. The 24-year-old appeared in 26 games for the Demon Deacons in 2025 and started just once. Green posted an impressive 2.65 ERA and 38 punch outs over 37⅓ innings pitched at Wake Forest last season. Green went undrafted last month, but after being signed by the Reds, will likely head to Single-A Daytona.

Reds keep raiding Wake Forest pitching lab with latest signing

O'Hara is sure to join Green in the Reds' minor league system after a successful college career split between Florida Gulf Coast and George Mason. Unlike Green, O'Hara is a starter and appeared in 17 games, going 7-4 with a 2.81 ERA for the Patriots in 2025. After going undrafted, O'Hara spent the past few weeks pitching for the Staten Island FerryHawks of the Atlantic League.

Wake Forest has been kind to the Reds, so it's no wonder that Cincinnati doubled down on their affinity for Demon Deacon pitchers. Wake Forest's Pitching Lab is a well-known destination for college pitchers who are looking to maximize their talents. In the era of NIL and the transfer portal, many aspiring major league arms have been lured to Wake Forest's state-of-the-art facility.

Reds Director of Pitching Derek Johnson was a former college pitching coach and is quite the fan of the advanced science used in pitching today, so it's no wonder that Cincinnati is intrigued by players that come through the Wake Forest Pitching Lab.

Will Green (or O'Hara) reach the same heights as Lowder and Burns? That remains to be seen, but the Reds have been known to get the best out of their young pitchers and have one of the best starting rotations in baseball. That's a credit to Johnson and the talent evaluators in the Reds organization.

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