Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo is done for the season, reports Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. The southpaw has been on the injured list due to a stress reaction in his left tibia and it appears he won’t be able to heal up in time to rejoin the club.
It’s been a frustrating season for Lodolo, who was hoped to be part of a strong one-two atop the Cincinnati rotation this year alongside Hunter Greene. Both pitchers were first-round draft picks and highly-touted prospects before debuting with strong results in 2022. He tossed 103 1/3 innings over 19 starts last year with a 3.66 earned run average, 29.7% strikeout rate, 8.8% walk rate and 46% ground ball rate.
Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to build on that here in 2023. He made just seven starts with a 6.29 ERA before landing on the injured list with a leg injury. It was initially described as left calf tendinitis, though it was later diagnosed as a stress reaction in his left tibia and he was placed in a walking boot. He was expected back in August and began a rehab assignment but recently was diagnosed with an additional stress reaction in his tibia, which will keep him from coming back again this year.
It will ultimately go down as a mostly lost season for Lodolo, an unfortunate development for him and the club. The Reds have surged out of their rebuild this year, with various rookies debuting and helping the club emerge as legitimate contenders. That’s been thanks largely to a strong group of position players and in spite of a weak pitching staff. The Reds are 10th in the majors in terms of runs scored but have also allowed the eighth-most runs. Their rotation ERA of 5.30 is better than only the Rockies and the A’s.
In addition to Lodolo’s injury issues, just about every other starting pitcher has gone on the injured list or struggled at some point, with Graham Ashcraft the only pitcher on the staff to crack 100 innings so far this season. Despite all of that, the Reds are just one game back of a playoff spot but could have perhaps been in better position with just a little bit better luck in terms of pitcher health.
For Lodolo personally, he’s missed out on a chance to continue developing at the major league level and help his club. He’ll now go into the offseason with an uncertain status and could perhaps face workload concerns next year. Between his seven starts and then his truncated rehab, he only tossed 41 2/3 innings this year. His highest tally as a professional was the 116 he threw last year between the majors and the minors.
Without Lodolo, the Reds will go into the final month of their postseason push with a rotation that currently consists of Greene, Ashcraft, Andrew Abbott, Brandon Williamson and Ben Lively, with Lyon Richardson, Levi Stoudt and others on the 40-man and in the minors as depth.
Bader and Renfroe should help solve this problem. Oh wait, they don’t. To be fair, Reds were lower than Guardians on waiver priority and probably had their decision made for them.
So what’s the point of your comment
They still passed on Clev, but we all knew teams would balk at the $4M proviso.
His scandal stopped teams from picking him up
Yeah, domestic violence and child abuse doesn’t play as well in 2023 as it used t.
Why stop at Clevinger? Trevor Bauer is a free agent.
Sucks, but kind of expected. Going to be interesting to see what the Reds do next season, rotation-wise. They have Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo, Graham Ashcraft, and Brandon Williamson. Those 5 could be good potentially, but they should probably bring in a veteran to be safe.
I agree. At least a couple of them have a propensity for injury which can wreck a season. Especially when they are stronger competitors in next season’s pennant race. The young hitters are going to have to step it up a notch or two going forward.
They missed the boat not bringing a veteran in THIS season to help thise guys development along.
There is no Bronson Arroyo around who helped the early 2010s guys.
They definitely did. That’s why you bring in a veteran no matter what, and I’m not talking about Luke Weaver. At worst, you can trade them at the deadline. It’s about mentoring and if it comes to it, getting a couple lottery prospects at the deadline… not to mention innings.
Yes, the Reds need to bring in another starter next season. Their payroll is almost going to be no existent if they don’t sign some FA’s (35M -45M), so money shouldn’t really be an issue. I would strongly consider moving Lodolo into the pen. He is the least healthy of the current group. He’s a good strikeout pitcher, and a lefty to boot.
FA, Abbott, Greene, Ashcraft, Williamson in the rotation, Diaz, and Lodolo in the high leverage roles for the pen.
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So the question begins to formulate… who do Reds fans want to sign into the rotation? And will Bob pull the trigger? Who are the logical options that check both boxes?
There’s not a lot to love out there honestly. I’d like then to bring back Sonny Gray personally. That’s a realistic option.
Not a bad Idea for a couple of years.
Not landing Giolito may have been a death blow for this team.
I don’t get why they took Bader and Renfroe, Fraley has been good, they should’ve took Clev or Gio when they had the chance.
Giolito was never available but I would argue they should have hit the bullet and claimed Clevinger.
I had a feeling when he was disabled this time, he was done for the year.
The early injury history on both him and Greene are concerning.
Yeah it’s hard not to feel like they were being rushed back because the organization dropped the ball by not adding a starting pitcher (first in the off-season and then again at the trade deadline… when they were in FIRST).
This news makes the trade deadline even more of a fail. Now they can’t even pick up a pitcher on waivers, though I admit it is probably too late at this point.
So I’m guessing the lack of news on Jose Cisnero means he went unclaimed?
The good news on Green and Lodolo is that both of their injuries are/were to the lower body and not their shoulder, elbow, or forearm, so they still have next year to ruin all of those.
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>insert “they had us in the first half, not gunna lie” meme
>run
Take a breath everybody things will be OK