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Paul Skenes (Mike Janes/Four Seam Images)
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 out and 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 throwing 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 Ashcraft and Nick Lodolo. All were asked to throw 95-plus pitches and seven innings in the minors.
Greene is one of the examples that has me wondering if, some 20 years after the end of the pitcher-abuse era, if the pitcher-protection era is any better at actually keeping pitchers healthy.
This April brought bad news for prominent pitchers. Spencer Strider, Eury Perez and Shane Bieber joined Gerrit Cole on the injured list with elbow injuries.
At the same time, the efforts to keep pitchers healthy continue to emphasize placing artificial limits on how much pitchers work in games. In 2023, righthander Paul Skenes threw around 100 pitches and seven innings a week as LSU’s Friday starter. He generally sat at 98 mph.
In April 2024, Skenes, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft by the Pirates, sat 100 mph and touched 102 for three-inning stints for Triple-A Indianapolis. He was pulled after three perfect innings…