Cincinnati Reds Pitcher Nick Lodolo Advancing Through Minors in Rehab Assignment

Left-handed pitcher Nick Lodolo is moving from rookie ball to Double-A as he continues to work his way back from a stress fracture in his tibia.

Cincinnati Reds left-handed pitcher Nick Lodolo has taken another step towards a return to the big leagues.

Lodolo's rehab assignment has been transferred from the Arizona Complex League Reds to Double-A Chattanooga, the team announced Tuesday. The 25-year-old southpaw made one start in rookie ball, allowing one hit and striking out four across 2.0 scoreless innings of work on Friday.

That was the first game action for Lodolo since May 6, which was when he made his last start for the Reds.

Lodolo went to the 15-day injured list on May 14 with left calf tendinosis. A few days later, an MRI showed that Lodolo had suffered a stress fracture in his tibia. The Reds moved Lodolo to the 60-day injured list on June 3.

The lefty wore a boot until mid-July, and he didn't toss his first bullpen session until August.

Before he went down with his lower leg injury, Lodolo was 2-1 with a 6.29 ERA, 1.748 WHIP and 12.3 strikeouts per nine innings through seven starts with the Reds. His rough numbers can mostly be attributed to back-to-back rough starts against the Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers in April, though, as his ERA drops to a much more palatable 3.51 without them.

Lodolo was the top-ranked player in Cincinnati's farm system at the end of 2021, according to MLB Pipeline, in addition to being the No. 7 left-handed pitcher and No. 59 overall prospect in all of baseball. Lodolo finished sixth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2022, going 4-7 with a 3.66 ERA, 1.248 WHIP and 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings.

Both Lodolo and right-hander Hunter Greene appear on track to return to the Reds' rotation later this month, giving Cincinnati much-needed reinforcements as their playoff push goes into high gear.

The Reds are currently sitting at 62-58, which puts them in a tie for fourth in the race for the three NL Wild Card spots. A 3-9 start to August has knocked Cincinnati back a fair share, cutting the team's postseason odds to 24.2%, per FanGraphs. 

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