The surging Cincinnati Reds welcomed one key player back from injury while losing another to the injured list on Monday. Ahead of their clash against the Colorado Rockies, the Reds activated veteran first baseman Joey Votto while placing ace starting pitcher Hunter Greene on the 15-day injured list retroactive to Sunday, per the team's Twitter account.

Votto, who is making his 2023 debut 10 months removed from surgery on his left shoulder to repair a torn rotator cuff and torn biceps, is set to provide the Reds lineup with a nice boost.

However, it hurts Cincinnati, 8-2 in their last 10 games and winners of eight in a row, to lose Greene, who has showed off some of the best strikeout stuff in the big leagues in 2023.

Greene, the Reds' former no. 2 overall prospect in the farm system, has lived up to his billing, as he has pitched to a 3.93 ERA with 100 strikeouts in 73 1/3 innings pitched.

Greene became the fourth-fastest pitcher to reach 250 career strikeouts earlier in June in an eight-strikeout performance against the Boston Red Sox.

It's not hard to see why, either, as the 6-foot-5 right hander is armed with an upper-90s fastball and a wicked slider that has accounted for a 40.9 percent whiff rate, per Statcast.

Fortunately for the Reds, it seems as if they won't be without their flamethrowing young starter for long, as it's possible that he could return as soon as he's eligible on July 2.

In the meantime, Votto and the red-hot Reds will have to pick up the slack on offense to make up for the loss of a superb pitcher.