A Concerning Injury Development For Young Cincinnati Reds Pitcher

While the Cincinnati Reds aren't great at the major league level right now (17-21, fourth place in the National League Central), there have been reasons to be excited about the team's youth movement.

We recently wrote the prowess of prospect Elly De La Cruz, and the team acquired a boatload of exciting prospects in the deals that sent Luis Castillo to the Mariners, and Tyler Mahle to the Twins. All told, the Reds future looks pretty exciting.

The Reds also have young pieces already up at the major league level that continue to develop, including young left-handed pitcher Nick Lodolo, but the team got disappointing news on his health on Saturday.

Scratched already from a start on Thursday, Lodolo was scratched again on Saturday.

The following comes from the Yahoo! Sports fantasy baseball update system:

Nick Lodolo (calf) has returned to Cincinnati to undergo further evaluation.

Advice: Lodolo hasn't been placed on the injured list yet, but he's been scratched from Saturday's scheduled start against the Marlins due to ongoing left calf soreness. There should be some clarity on his status at some point this weekend, but it seems highly likely that he'll require a trip to the injured list, even if it's just to give the Reds some extra roster flexibility.

The Reds started right-hander Derek Law in his place.

The former first-round pick Lodolo is 25 years old. He's armed with an upper-90s fastball and a devastating slider. He's 2-1 this year with a 6.29 ERA in 34.1 innings. He has 47 strikeouts in those 34.1 innings. After debuting last year, he's 6-8 lifetime with a 4.31 ERA.

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