Hunter Greene had a rough start to his outing against the Pirates, and not just on the scoreboard. He became the first pitcher of the 2024 season to throw up on the mound. After a shaky first inning that saw some inconsistent calls and a leadoff walk, Greene began dealing with what looked like nausea. Two batters in, after throwing a high fastball to Brian Reynolds, he doubled over on the mound and vomited. The trainer and coaches came out to check on him, and Greene stayed in the game, trying to shake it off. This is the second start in a row against Pittsburgh where Greene has puked, and he addressed it in his postgame interview, saying he tried adjusting his hydration to avoid it, but it still happened. He downplayed the issue, chalking it up to bad luck rather than illness or nerves.
After the mound incident, Greene’s command seemed to slip. Reynolds hit a two-run homer following a stolen base by Andrew McCutchen, and Rowdy Tellez later stole a base too. Neither McCutchen nor Tellez are known for stealing, which highlighted a flaw in Greene’s delivery timing. His 1.4-second time to the plate was consistent but predictable. The Pirates had just seen him days earlier and took advantage of the repeatable rhythm. The stolen bases led directly to runs. What looked like a potentially solid inning unraveled quickly with poor sequencing and predictable pitch timing. Still, Greene kept pitching and finished the inning without further incident, though the outing continued to decline from there. The puke stayed on the mound longer than anyone would have liked, and so did the damage.