Cincinnati Reds Rule Pitcher Nick Lodolo Out For Remainder of Season Following Setback

Nick Lodolo was on track to return to the Cincinnati Reds in time for their playoff push, but the team shut him down with another stress reaction in his tibia.

The Cincinnati Reds are shutting left-handed pitcher Nick Lodolo down for the rest of the season, MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reported Thursday afternoon.

Lodolo has not appeared in the big leagues since May 6, initially hitting 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 left tibia and he was moved to the 60-day injured list on June 3.

The southpaw made three appearances during a rehab assignment in the minors earlier in August, posting a 2.45 ERA and 1.227 WHIP across 7.1 innings.

However, Lodolo was diagnosed with another stress fracture in his tibia after his third rehab outing, and the team ultimately shut him down.

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 in 2023. His shaky 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.

The 25-year-old will now go until next spring before taking the mound at the major league level again.

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 at the time. After going 4-7 with a 3.66 ERA, 1.248 WHIP and 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings in 2022, Lodolo finished sixth in NL Rookie of the Year voting.

The Reds could have used that kind of production down the stretch this fall, as they are just 10-17 in August. At 69-66, Cincinnati is 3.0 games back of first place in the NL Central and 1.0 game back of the third and final NL Wild Card spot.

Graham Ashcraft, Brandon Williamson, Andrew Abbott and Hunter Greene now hold the top four spots in the Reds' rotation despite all being 25 years old or younger – not that that would have changed with Lodolo in the mix.

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