ARLINGTON, Texas — For 39 pitches in his rehab start Thursday, Cincinnati Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo felt great. Pitching for the Class A Daytona Tortugas, Lodolo retired the first eight batters he faced, striking out half of them. But on the third pitch to the Jupiter Hammerheads third baseman Abrahan Ramirez, and Lodolo’s 40th of the game, he felt the blister on his left index finger pop up again.

The blister puts Lodolo’s expected return next week on hold. The blister issues that trace back to college have plagued him since.

“The main goal right now really has got to be that I need to get back to where I can compete at this level,” Lodolo said Friday afternoon at Globe Life Field before the Reds’ game against the Texas Rangers. “We’re going to take it day by day and hopefully get back to that.”

Lodolo said he hoped to start playing catch in the next couple of days, but the blister issues remain. The 28-year-old spent time on the injured list each of the last two seasons with a blister on his index finger. He also had a stint on the IL for the issue as a minor-leaguer in 2021.

“All the ‘known’ (cures), I’ve definitely tried,” Lodolo said. “We’ve got some outside stuff that we’ve tried, and we’re going to experiment with, so yeah, hopefully something sticks.”

Taking care of the blister isn’t as simple as using super glue or any of the other common remedies used to prevent or treat blisters. Nor is it something he can simply pitch through or modify his grip or mechanics. Lodolo has a callus that’s built up on the tip of his left index finger from throwing his fastball, but it’s his slider that causes a blister on the pad of the finger.

Pitching through the blister isn’t about toughness, but effectiveness. Lodolo’s slider is an elite pitch, a big part of why he was a first-round pick and 9-8 with a 3.33 ERA last season with the Reds. Not throwing his best pitch to hitters is a non-starter, and changing it would likely make it less effective.

“It’s something we don’t really want to change,” Lodolo said. “As I start throwing and stuff over the next couple of days, I think we’ll have more conversations about that.”

Lodolo will be able to play catch this weekend and beyond, but his return is in doubt until the blister heals. When he’s tried to get back too quickly in the past, the blister has either popped back up or worse. In 2024, he suffered a ligament injury in the finger, ending his season more than a month prematurely.

“We need to all put our heads together and he, obviously, is going to be the biggest voice because he’s the one who has to do it,” Reds manager Terry Francona said.

The Reds are already missing starter Hunter Greene until at least July after undergoing surgery to remove bone spurs in his right elbow last month. Greene was scheduled to start Opening Day for the Reds and Lodolo the second game. After Greene’s injury and before Lodolo’s, the Reds planned to have six starters on their Opening Day roster for five spots, with Lodolo’s college teammate and fellow left-hander Brandon Williamson joining right-handers Chase Burns and Rhett Lowder behind lefty Andrew Abbott and veteran right-hander Brady Singer. Lodolo’s trip to the IL left the team with five starters for five spots, simplifying the pitching schedule.

Singer, who started last Saturday and Friday’s game in Texas, got a blister on his finger during his last start in spring training, and he dealt with it in his first start. Unlike Lodolo, Singer said this is his first time dealing with a blister while pitching.