MORE HARM THAN GOOD?

Dramatically scaling back young pitchers’ workloads has failed to keep them healthier

- J.J. COOPER

As a prospect in 2021, Reds righthander Hunter Greene never knew how many innings or pitches he was going to get to throw.

Even though he was the hardest-throwing starter in the minor leagues, Greene was told to go get hitters out. Coming off Tommy John surgery in 2019, he threw five innings in his first 2021 start. He threw 99 pitches in his fourth start. He went 7.1 innings and 101 pitches in his fifth, then followed by going 106 pitches in each of his next two.

In modern pitching development, that seems almost reckless. Greene could reach back for 100 mph whenever he wanted, and high velocity equals high stress on elbows. But as then-Reds pitching coordinator Kyle Boddy saw it, it would be safer for Greene to let him worry about getting hitters out in the sixth and seventh innings.

“If he goes 60 or 70 pitches, he’s going to sit 100. He’s not stupid,” said Boddy, now a special assistant to Red Sox GM Craig Breslow. “And if we tell him, ‘There’s no limits on you,’ but we keep taking him out after 70 pitches every time, he’s going to realize what’s going on.

“If he can’t control the volume, the one lever he can control is the intensity. I personally think that’s worse for his arm, going max effort for shorter stints.”

There’s no guarantee that the Reds’ approach will keep Greene healthy for the long term, but it’s worked so far. He’s part of a young Cincinnati rotation that includes Andrew Abbott, Graham Aschcraft and Nick Lodolo. All were asked to throw 95-plus pitches and seven innings in the minors.