Hunter Greene Should Merit Significant Cy Young Consideration

Greene has had a fantastic season.

Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Hunter Greene (21) delivers a pitch in the first inning of the MLB game between the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. / Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Cincinnati Reds have their ace. Hunter Greene has been amazing this season. You probably already knew that already, though. What you may not know is he has an impeccable case to win the National League Cy Young Award.

Greene has the highest WAR of any pitcher in the National League according to Baseball Reference. He is near the top on strikeouts, hits allowed, and homers allowed. He has been one of the most dominant pitchers in the national league this season.

The argument is tough to win this year, though, as there are a handful of pitchers in contention for the top spot in the league. Atlanta Braves starter Chris Sale leads the league in WAR according to FanGraphs, and with good reason. He is tops in the league in strikeouts while doing a good job of limiting bases on balls. In fact, Sale’s strikeout to walk ratio is almost six strikeouts per walk.

Greene may be hampered by his walks, when it’s all said and done, but he has done a masterful job of limiting everything this year. His ERA is under 3.00 thanks in large part to his ability to keep the ball in the yard. 

Opponents have just 11 home runs on him all year long.

Consider where Greene was at even just last year. He allowed 19 homers in 112 innings. He’s cut down on long balls given up so much that he’s allowed just under half that many in 24 1/3 more innings.

There may be a few tough starts coming as he continues to add on to his career-high for innings pitched in a season. If he can keep up what he has been doing, Greene’s name will be prominent in Cy Young discussions for the remainder of the season.

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