Top Cincinnati Reds pitching prospect Hunter Greene will start the 2018 season with the Dayton Dragons.

It was expected that Greene would join the Dragons sometime this season, but less certain whether he would be with the team from the start. Although the Reds haven’t made an official announcement in this regard, Greene himself tweeted Thursday night that he is excited for Opening Day with the Dragons.

Dayton opens its season on the road next Thursday, in Bowling Green. There could be a very intriguing matchup of starting pitchers in that game, as two-way player Brendan McKay is assigned to the Hot Rods. Greene — who also was a star two-way player in high school, but is now exclusively a pitcher — was selected by the Reds with the second-overall pick in last year’s draft, while McKay was taken by the Tampa Bay Rays two picks later.

Greene will be on an innings limit this year, mostly because of his young age (18) heading into his first full season of pro ball. (He pitched only 4.1 innings for short-season Billings last year.) Still, his ability to reach triple digits with his fastball should create plenty of buzz in the Midwest League ballparks where he pitches — especially Dayton’s Fifth Third Field, which always sells out its games.