In 2025, half of Nick Lodolo’s starts were quality starts. He had two double-digit strikeout games, and one of them was against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He got batters to chase about as often as any pitcher in baseball, and he also had one of the best walk rates in the game. He has one of the best breaking balls in the sport. Heading into 2026, he was offered a spot on Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.
Lodolo isn’t as big of a name as Hunter Greene or Andrew Abbott, but he probably could be. On Friday, the Reds get Lodolo back from the injured list, and he’ll make his season debut.
“I’d like to think that I’m a big boost for our rotation,” Lodolo said. “I think every guy would feel that way. I definitely expect myself to take that role and pitch the way I know I can. I don’t want to say (I’ll) take pressure off anybody because every day we’re trying to go out here and win and compete at this level. I want to get myself out there and pick up where I know I can.”
His return is even more important on a Reds’ pitching staff that has had Brandon Williamson go on the 60-day IL and has Rhett Lowder dealing with shoulder discomfort that cut short his start on Thursday as the Reds lost to the Cubs, 8-3, and got swept at Wrigley Field.
Lowder said that he has been “grinding through some stuff” in his shoulder and is set to get an MRI. The results of that will shape the next steps for him.
On this miserable road trip, the Reds’ pitching staff was just run too thin. The theme of the week was what happens when you don’t get consistent enough pitching.
The Reds need Lodolo. A lot.
Since the start of the 2024 season, the only thing that’s prevented Lodolo from leveling up and establishing himself as front of the rotation pitcher has been the lingering blister issue.
In 2024, after struggling to spin his breaking ball during some tough starts during the summer, he adjusted his grip to prevent the blister from popping back up and went on to suffer a season-ending finger injury. In 2025, Lodolo finished the year with a 3.33 ERA. Among pitchers who made at least 25 starts, Lodolo had the 19th-best ERA in MLB. The only time that he missed was 22 days in August because of the blister.
Expectations were really high for Lodolo during spring training entering 2026. This could be the year. But then, on the final day of camp, Lodolo left his spring training start early when the blister popped back up on a very hot day. It initially seemed more minor, but a rehab start the following week was cut short for the same reason.
It’s been a frustrating process.
“You have to put it behind you,” Lodolo said. “You can’t be out there thinking about it. It stunk for me. For the team. There was nothing I could do about it. The best thing is to try to find a solution to limit that.”
He believes that he has found a process to fight the blister that will work as a long-term solution, and Lodolo plans to share more about that story at a later date.
The Reds need a spark right now after a winless road trip. The pitching staff had some low moments over the last week. Right now, the Reds are getting an All-Star caliber pitcher back. They just need his finger to be OK.
Lodolo’s left index finger might be the most important finger in the Reds’ organization. His teammates have been checking about it all year.
“We’ve been able to watch his process and that finger heal,” Chase Burns said. “Every day, after he throws, we huddle up and ask him about it.”
Brady Singer said, “I’ve kept tabs on it, on his journey, looking at it,” Singer said. “It looks great.”
His finger is one of the biggest X-Factors for the rest of this Reds’ season.
If the Reds get a healthy, durable Lodolo, that has a chance to be a season-altering development.
The rotation so far this year has been an inconsistent Andrew Abbott (who recently looks like he’s turning a corner), an up-and-down Brady Singer, a young but inexperienced phenom in Chase Burns, an injured Williamson and now a banged-up Lowder.
The Reds need Lodolo to step in as a frontline piece.
“For a left-hander that’s 6-foot-5, to be able to spot it wherever he wants, and he’s a really smart pitcher, I can’t wait to see him back out there,” Burns said.
As irritating as the blister has been, Lodolo still has a chance to make 25 starts this season. The Reds are hoping that he’ll make more starts in the postseason, and he has the type of arm that can overwhelm even the types of lineups that you face in October.
He has hated the way that his season has started, but there’s plenty of season left.
“You’ve just got to deal with it and be as ready as you can,” Lodolo said. “You expect yourself to go out there and trust your stuff and know what you can do.”
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