Elly De La Cruz, Hunter Greene inch closer to Reds returns

Elly De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds poses for a photo with Hunter Greene and Jeimer Candelario after hitting an inside-the-park home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers

Elly De La Cruz and Hunter Greene combined to post 11.2 bWAR between them during the course of the 2024 Major League Baseball season for the Cincinnati Reds. Despite both battling injuries during the 2025 season, they combined to post 7.8 bWAR.

There’s no denying that they are the two of the most talented players the Reds have on the roster, with Chase Burns the only one who can really hold a torch to them at this juncture. So, attempting to plow through the heart of their schedule without either of them has proved too much for Cincinnati to truly handle.

Fortunately, both are inching closer to their respective Reds returns.

Greene struck out 6 across 4 IP for the Arizona Complex League Reds just yesterday, actually going an inning longer than originally planned due to how efficient he was being with his offerings. He even hit 101.1 mph on the radar gun in the process.

Then, the Cincinnati Reds announced this afternoon that Elly was officially sent out on a rehab assignment with AAA Louisville.

The sooner the Reds can get their pair of All Stars back from the elbow and hamstring injuries that, respectively, have thrown a wrench in the flow of the entire team this season, the better. The Reds aren’t officially out of it just yet – they’re 3.0 games out of the final Wild Card spot with just over half the season left to play – but they’re just about out of time to keep playing with a hand behind their backs.

That’s especially true in the final push to the All Star break, as the Reds have a murderer’s row of teams coming up on the schedule.

Finally, there may be light(s) at the end of the tunnel.