Nick Lodolo exits start with left wrist contusion

It was Lodolo’s first start in over five weeks because of his blister issue, and it wasn’t a particularly good one. He didn’t walk anyone and did strike out five, but he allowed three homers in the outing before exiting after his four frames. Lodolo’s 2026 has been a disappointment both in terms of injury and results, and his ERA is now a bloated 4.86 on the season. His next chance to rebound comes Sunday versus the Marlins.

Lodolo returns to Cincinnati’s rotation following a nearly five-week absence due to a blister issue. The 28-year-old southpaw threw 65 pitches over 4 1/3 innings during his final minor league rehab outing for Triple-A Louisville last week, so there shouldn’t be any limitations from a workload standpoint when he takes the ball against the White Sox on Tuesday night. He boasts a lackluster 4.60 ERA, 1.47 WHIP and 50/27 K/BB ratio across 62 2/3 innings over 12 starts this season.

Lodolo also walked two and struck out four while throwing 57 percent of his pitches for strikes. He posted a 12 percent swinging strike rate and sat 93.3 mph on his sinker, so his velocity looks good. The command of his changeup was an issue in this one, with just a 53 percent strike rate, and it’s still unclear which pitch(es) are causing the most issues with his blisters. Lodolo threw 65 pitches in his one, so he should make one more rehab start before returning.

Lodolo hit the injured list with a blister on his left index finger just prior to the All-Star break. The Reds are going to approach his situation with caution to avoid a potential setback. It’s unclear whether he’ll need a rehab start, but there’s a chance he’s ready to jump back into Cincinnati’s rotation at some point in early August.

Lodolo was pulled from Saturday’s start against the Cubs in the sixth inning after the blister developed. This has been a recurring issue for him dating back to 2023, so the Reds will sit him down and make sure that it fully heals before bringing him back. Chase Petty was recalled from Triple-A Louisville to take his place in the club’s rotation for the time being.

He allowed two runs in five-plus innings against the Cubs. Lodolo already missed the first five weeks of this season with blister issues and also lost starts in 2023 and ’24. If this is another IL-type situation, the Reds could replace him in the rotation with Chase Petty.

Lodolo gave up one hit, walked four and struck out four. Injuries have limited the 28-year-old left-hander to just 10 starts so far this season. The bigger problem might be that Lodolo has a 5.05 ERA and 4.80 xFIP in those starts. Difficult to trust, Lodolo will face the Orioles at home this weekend.

Francona expressed optimism that Lodolo will be fine after taking a 108 mph comebacker off his left wrist during Tuesday’s start against the Brewers. It sounds like there’s a strong possibility he’s able to make his next start against Milwaukee on Monday.

Lodolo should have gotten through the third scoreless, thanks to a baserunning mistake from Luis Torrens, but Sal Stewart couldn’t hold on to a throw at third, and the Mets went on to score three times in the inning. The other four runs came in the fifth, which featured four singles and a double to the wall in center that Noelvi Marte should have caught or at least made an attempt on. Lodolo averaged a season-low 93.2 mph with his sinker today, which certainly didn’t help matters, but he was also unlucky to give up seven hits on his curve and changeup without ever allowing a hard-hit ball on either. His ERA is up to 6.12, but the Reds will almost certainly stick with him and start him against the Brewers next week.

It was one of the better outings of the season for Lodolo, who struck out three batters through his first two innings of work. He struggled a bit with his command in this one, hitting three batters on the night. One of those hit batters was Jordan Lawlar, who would take his base after the HBP and later come around to score in the sixth inning to tie the game at 2-2. Lodolo continues to look better than the player we saw earlier in the season, showing better command of the strike zone while also allowing just three earned runs or fewer in four of his last five starts. We’ll see if he can string together another good start on Wednesday when he takes on the Mets.