Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Hunter Greene tossed an impressive first five innings against the Dodgers on Saturday night in the second start of his Major League Baseball career – at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium, about 15 miles away from where he starred at Sherman Oaks’ Notre Dame High School.
MLB.com’s Sarah Langs confirmed that Greene’s 34th pitch of 100+ miles per hour set a new MLB record for a start. Greene added five more to bring his total to 39.
Greene left the game with one out in the bottom of the 6th inning, having thrown 80 pitches. He struck out six and allowed two runs – on a two-run Trea Turner home run in the 6th. The Reds lost 5-2 to fall to an MLB-worst 2-7 this season.
“A great outing – you can’t do much better than that against that lineup,” Reds manager David Bell said of Greene’s start after the game. “What Hunter did – it just doesn’t get any better than that. I mean 101 (mph) – locating his fastball. Really good slider. Didn’t throw a lot of change-ups but really didn’t need to. His fastball had great life on it, and he was also locating it – which makes for a tough at-bat. … Pretty much about as good as you can do.”
Social media reactions to Greene’s remarkable start:
Most 100.0+ mph pitches in game, pitch-tracking era (since 2008):
Tonight Hunter Greene: 39
6/5/21 Jacob deGrom: 33
5/19/19 Jordan Hicks: 29
8/19/15 Nathan Eovaldi: 28
5/31/21 deGrom: 27THIRTY NINE!!!!!
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) April 17, 2022
Hunter Greene pitch-tracking era records tonight:
– 100 mph pitches in game (39)
– 101 mph pitches by SP in game (13)
– 101 mph K’s by SP in game (2, tied w/deGrom + Verlander)— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) April 17, 2022
Hunter Greene’s 59 pitches of 100+ mph through his first two MLB starts are more than the Twins, Orioles, Brewers or D-backs have recorded as a team over the entire pitch-tracking era (since 2008).
— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) April 17, 2022