Hunter Greene Selected No. 2 by Reds in 2017 MLB Draft

Notre Dame High School pitcher Hunter Greene will start his professional baseball career with the Cincinnati Reds after being selected second overall in the 2017 Major League Baseball draft. 

Greene, listed at 6'3" and 195 pounds by MLB.com, has been one of the most talked-about players in this year's draft class. The 17-year-old has been a star on the mound and at shortstop for his California high school. 

Here's the reaction from social media after Greene was picked by the Reds:

In February, Greene's already high stock hit another level when ESPN's Keith Law offered this nugget from a game:

In a profile from Sports Illustrated's Lee Jenkins, there have been lofty player comparisons made for Greene to illustrate the kind of ceiling he has coming into pro ball:

"But before he becomes a face of baseball, he is going to need a position, and on that subject you will find a wide swath of opinions about Christian Hunter Greene. Several scouts agree that he is the best two-way amateur prospect they have ever seen, a first-round pick as a pitcher and a shortstop, with comps to Noah Syndergaard on the mound and Alex Rodriguez in the field."

MLB.com's scouting report for Greene notes his future is on the mound with a fastball that settles in the 95-98 mph range and "two breaking balls, and they'll run into each other occasionally, with some thinking he'll focus on a slider in the future, with a chance for that secondary pitch to be at least major league average."

With the Reds still immersed in a full-scale rebuilding effort, landing the player with the highest ceiling in the draft No. 2 overall is a huge win for the franchise. 

One thing the Reds are desperate to find right now is a high-upside pitcher they can eventually build their starting rotation around. 

In MLB.com's ranking of Cincinnati's top 30 prospects, there are four pitchers ranked in the top 10 spots, but no one has a ceiling higher than 55 (above-average big leaguer).

There's certainly value in having a handful of pitching prospects who could be even average big leaguers, but playoff teams need at least one star-caliber pitcher in the rotation. Greene won't be in Cincinnati for a few years, but he's got the ceiling this franchise desperately needs for the future of its rotation.