Andrew Abbott is the All-Star, Hunter Greene the triple-digit Opening Day starter, Nick Martinez the $21-million man.
But the guy who has been the every-fifth-day metronome – if not backbone – of the Cincinnati Reds pitching staff is the lefty who added six more scoreless innings to his first-half resumé in Thursday’s victory over the Marlins.
Nick Lodolo (6-6, 3.38 ERA) is poised for a breakout season as he heads to the All-Star break healthy.
And that might make Nick Lodolo the surprise story of the first half for the Reds pitching staff.
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“He’s been huge to us,” Abbott said, “every fifth day being there, being able to throw, five, six, seven, eight innings, whatever he’s asked to do. We’ve said for years, when healthy he’s very, very, very good. You’re seeing it.”
Nick Lodolo is now reliable piece in Reds rotation
Mostly, you’re seeing him. For every scheduled start this year. That’s been the key for the 6-foot-6 combination of angles, deception and stuff – a pitcher some scouts in recent years suggested might be the best on the staff.
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If only he could stay healthy.
“I definitely feel like I’m in the best position I’ve been in, in a couple years, health-wise,” said Lodolo, whose ERA through 19 starts is 3.38 as he prepares for his first start on the other side of the All-Star break.
“A lot of that was because of my offseason, being able to train and put myself in position to do that,” he said. “Now the goal is to keep doing it.”
How significant are those 19 starts and full-capacity workload through the All-Star break?
Not only has he completed a first half without a trip to the injured list for the first time in four big-league seasons, but Lodolo is just two starts and 9 2/3 innings from matching last year’s career-high workload for a season.
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Thanks in large part, he said, to that normal offseason this past winter that represented another first.
Nick Lodolo enters the All-Star Break just two starts and 9 2/3 innings from matching last year’s career-high workload for a season. He hasn’t made an appearance on the Injured List for the first time in his four seasons.
“He was always dealing with an issue,” pitching coach Derek Johnson said. “He could train fully (this time). And I think he’s looked really good. He’s thrown a lot of strikes, probably more than he ever really has. So he’s throwing the ball really well and put himself in a good spot.”
Lodolo, who was drafted seventh overall by the Reds out of TCU in 2019, missed more than two months in his debut 2022 season because of a lower back injury.
He missed all but the first six weeks of the season in 2023 because of a stress reaction/fracture in his leg.
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Reds’ Nick Lodolo has avoided IL for first time in four seasons
Then he opened last season on the IL with a calf strain thought to be related to the rehab and buildup from the leg injury, and followed that with three subsequent IL stints for a groin, finger blister and finger sprain – missing nearly half the season in total.
“The last two years haven’t been easy,” Lodolo said. “I still got to throw a decent amount last year, but I was so undertrained for so long that I just kind of rolled it out there. And it felt like every five days was kind of a struggle to get back out there from a health standpoint. I was still healthy. But you don’t feel as strong.
“To be the way I feel right now is definitely a plus.”
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It’s been as much a plus for a team trying to keep its fragile playoff plans intact down the stretch as it has been for Lodolo’s professional psyche.
Especially with Greene unable to shake a pesky groin injury that landed him on the IL twice and most recently pushed back a rehab assignment – turning what initially looked like a two-week injury into a months-long saga.
“We’ve all seen when (the starters) are healthy and they’re together they’re all pretty good, and they give us a chance to win,” Johnson said. “So that’s probably the biggest part of it. The question is can they all stay together and stay healthy long enough for us to make a push.”
That’s Lodolo’s plan for his corner of the rotation.
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“Just keep making turns every five days and at the end of the year look up and see where we’re at,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing for me. And really just more for the team, too.
“I feel like it’s a lot easier when you focus on just winning baseball games,” Lodolo added.
Reds’ Nick Lodolo pitching his best into All-Star Break
He might even be getting stronger toward that end. In his last five starts he has a 2.28 ERA with 27 strikeouts, seven walks, and the team is 4-1 in those starts.
“I like where I’m at,” he said, “at least health-wise. It’s just continuing to chug along and keep going.”
He should push well into career-high territory for workload by the end of the month.
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“Obviously, I would like to not just beat it. I’d like to blow past it,” Lodolo said. “It would be good (for this year) and for setting me up for next year as well. That way I know what it takes to do that.”
Already he’s “a guy we can count on every fifth day,” Abbott said. “He works hard.
“He deserves everything (he’s achieving).”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Mr. Reliable: How Nick Lodolo became backbone of Cincinnati Reds staff