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Cincinnati Reds Call Up Top Pitching Prospect Rhett Lowder to Make MLB Debut

Rhett Lowder, who is the Cincinnati Reds' No. 2 prospect and the No. 8 pitching prospect in all of baseball, will take the mound against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday.
Sam Connon|
Mar 20, 2024; Goodyear, Arizona, USA; Cincinnati Reds pitcher Rhett Lowder against the Texas Rangers during a spring training baseball game at Goodyear Ballpark.
Mar 20, 2024; Goodyear, Arizona, USA; Cincinnati Reds pitcher Rhett Lowder against the Texas Rangers during a spring training baseball game at Goodyear Ballpark. | Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

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Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds have selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Rhett Lowder, the team announced Friday morning.

Lowder, the No. 2 prospect in the Reds' farm system, will make his MLB debut against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday. He has been penciled in as Cincinnati's starting pitcher for game two of the divisional doubleheader.

The 22-year-old righty is currently ranked as the No. 34 prospect and No. 8 pitching prospect in all of baseball.

To make room for Lowder on the active roster, the Reds optioned left-handed pitcher Brandon Leibrandt to Triple-A Louisville and designated infielder Davis Wendzel for assignment. Right-handed pitcher Yosver Zulueta has also been appointed as the 27th player for the doubleheader.

The Reds selected Lowder with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. The Wake Forest product didn't play professionally last season, but he worked his way up from High-A to Double-A, then Triple-A, just over the course of 2024.

Lowder is 6-4 with a 3.64 ERA, 1.150 WHIP and 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings this year, tossing 6.0 scoreless frames in his lone Triple-A appearance on Aug. 22.

Now, Lowder is MLB-bound, making his big league debut just 13 months removed from signing his first professional contract.

Cincinnati has largely fallen out of the NL Wild Card race at 64-70, but adding another homegrown arm to the starting rotation could help further lay the groundwork for the future. Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott and Nick Lodolo have all hit the injured list over the past few weeks, after all, while rookies Julian Aguiar and Carson Spiers haven't found much success in the majors as of yet.

The Reds' doubleheader against the Brewers is scheduled to get underway at 12:40 p.m. ET. Game two is slated to start at 6:40 p.m. ET.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a staff writer covering baseball for “Fastball on SI.’’ He previously covered UCLA Athletics for On SI’s All Bruins site, and is a UCLA graduate, with his work there as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for On SI’s New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk. Sam lives in Boston.

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