Reds' Greene needs Tommy John surgery

The progress Hunter Greene showed last summer won't be built upon until 2020.
The Reds revealed Monday night that MLB.com's No. 36 prospect requires Tommy John surgery and will miss the 2019 season. Greene later tweeted that he will undergo the procedure next week in Los Angeles.

Thanks for all the❤️ I’m in great shape & great spirits. I’m in LA & will have surgery next week by Dr. Neil Elattrache. I have an amazing support group & people around me that will make me even stronger. I’m still on track, time to move forward!

— Hunter Greene (@HunterGreene17) April 2, 2019

"He had a setback last week," Reds president of baseball operations Dick Williams told MLB.com. "He threw to live hitters last Saturday. I was there and saw the session. It went well. When he was warming up several days later for another session of live BP, he felt some discomfort. We shut him down. We had the MRIs done, and there was new damage that occurred to the ligament."
The 19-year-old was looking to build off a strong ending to his first full Minor League season. Before the 2018 All-Star break, Greene struggled with Class A Dayton. The third-ranked Cincinnati prospect posted a 5.53 ERA in 12 starts over 40 2/3 innings, although he struck out 53 batters over that span. He was selected to the Futures Game in Washington, D.C., and threw 19 fastballs at over 100 mph during the showcase event.

Greene found his groove in the season's final six starts for the Dragons. He registered a 2.93 ERA with 36 strikeouts and six walks in 27 2/3 innings, holding opposing hitters to a .167 average. After his final start on July 26, he went on the disabled list with a sprained right UCL that cost him the remainder of the season.
At that point last year, the Reds thought rehab was the best option for Greene.
"Obviously, there's some lost time there," Williams told MLB.com. "We had some really good doctors look at him, that was their conclusion and he was cleared to throw back in the fall. He went through a program in the winter without setbacks. I think everybody was on board with what we did, and we wished that it worked. Now that it hasn't, it was clear from the scans this time around that surgery would be required to make sure we get it repaired."

Selected with the second overall pick in the 2017 Draft as a two-way player out of Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, Calif., Greene split time between pitching and shortstop in Rookie-level Billings. He racked up a 12.46 ERA in three starts over 4 1/3 innings, posting a slash line of .233/.233/.367 in 30 Pioneer League at-bats. When the 2018 season got underway, Cincinnati said Greene had turned his sole focus to pitching.
Greene made the cover of Sports Illustrated on May 1, 2017 issue, when he was proclaimed to be proclaiming him "the star baseball needs." He was the first high school baseball player on the publication's cover since Bryce Harper in 2009.