Reds Rotation Takes a Hit as Hunter Greene Lands on the IL

The Cincinnati Reds just sent their premier flamethrower to the garage. According to MLB Trade Rumors, Hunter Greene has officially been placed on the Injured List.

Losing a guy who routinely flirts with triple digits is a brutal blow for a Cincinnati rotation trying to hold things together in the dog days of summer. When your ace goes down, the ripple effect hits everyone from the manager down to the last guy in the bullpen.

"MLB Trade Rumors reported the transaction on Twitter."

The Reds are coming off a chaotic stretch of baseball. They just traded blows in a wild five-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates before squeaking out a 5-4 win over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night. Now they have to navigate the rest of this Oakland series, and whatever comes next, without their top strikeout artist waiting in the wings.

Pitching in Great American Ball Park is already like trying to defuse a bomb in a phone booth. The stadium gives up home runs like they are complimentary mints. Trying to suppress opposing offenses in that environment without your best power arm makes the margin for error practically microscopic.

For anyone eyeing the betting board this week, Greene's absence completely changes the math on Cincinnati. You have to factor in a taxed bullpen and a rotation scrambling to eat innings. Opposing lineups are going to breathe a heavy sigh of relief knowing they do not have to catch up to that fastball.

Cincinnati wraps up their set with Oakland over the next two days. We will have to wait for the team to announce a corresponding roster move and a concrete recovery timeline, but for now, the Reds are just trying to survive the week without their main attraction.