(Photo credit: Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Cincinnati Reds ace Hunter Greene is out until July due to bone chips around his right elbow.

A surgery to remove the fragments is required before an official appraisal of Greene's status for the 2026 season can be made. Removal of bone spurs can become a possible signal of ligament damage, which the operation scheduled for Wednesday is expected to gauge.

Greene visited multiple specialists including Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who performed Tommy John surgery on Greene in 2019, and had been bothered by right elbow issues this month.

The team said ElAttrache advised an injection late in the 2025 season in response to Greene experiencing soreness in the elbow. The relief was temporary and not a solution for eradicating loose bodies that the surgery in Los Angeles is now targeting.

Reds manager Terry Francona said on March 4 that Greene was experiencing stiffness in his elbow.

The 26-year-old flamethrower made 19 starts last season as the Reds reached the postseason for the first time since 2020.

'We need to get this,' Francona said. 'You know, you're asking the guy to go out there and throw as hard as he can. We need to make sure he's OK.'

Left-hander Andrew Abbott will be Cincinnati's Opening Day starter against the Boston Red Sox on March 26.

Greene made just one spring training appearance, allowing four runs on five hits with no strikeouts in an inning against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The right-hander is one of the hardest throwers in baseball, averaging 99.5 mph on his fastball last season, tops among pitchers who threw at least 1,250 pitches. He was clocked at more than 100 mph a total of 296 times, which was No. 2 in MLB last season.

But he has battled injuries throughout his career. In 2022 he missed time with a shoulder strain, 2023 with hip pain and 2025 with a right groin strain that caused two injured-list stints and limited him to 107 2/3 innings.

The No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft by Cincinnati has lived up to the hype when healthy.

He posted an ERA of 2.76 or better in each of the past two seasons, earning an All-Star nod in 2024 when he had a 9-5 record and career-best 2.75 ERA in a career-high 150 1/3 innings.

Over four major league seasons, Greene has a 25-29 record and 3.65 ERA in 91 starts, striking out 617 batters while walking 179.

--Field Level Media