{"id":658004,"date":"2026-04-02T03:22:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T03:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/658004\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T03:22:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T03:22:24","slug":"reds-starting-pitcher-nick-lodolo-to-take-encouraging-next-step-in-rehab-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/658004\/","title":{"rendered":"Reds Starting Pitcher Nick Lodolo to Take Encouraging Next Step in Rehab Process"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Nick Lodolo will make a significant step in his rehab process on Thursday night. He will start Opening Night for the Reds’ Low-A affiliate, the Daytona Tortugas. <\/p>\n

Lodolo, who left his last start in the Spring due to a blister on his throwing hand, is expected to throw around 60-65 pitches. <\/p>\n

If the start goes well, there is optimism that he could be ready to start against the Miami Marlins on Tuesday, April 7. <\/p>\n

On Wednesday night, Tortugas broadcaster Matthew Mounsey caught up with the left-hander in Daytona and asked about his blister. <\/p>\n

“It’s good now,” Lodolo said.<\/a> “I haven’t gotten in any game action yet since Spring Training. I am looking forward to tomorrow.” <\/p>\n

Although the injury has forced Lodolo to miss the first couple starts of the season, he’s confident he will be able to be healthy for much of the season and be a pitcher the Reds can rely on. <\/p>\n

“That’s the goal, to throw as much as possible. It’s all of our goals. But yeah, with Hunter out, we just have to do our job. As starting pitchers, just as a whole. I think we will be fine. But it will definitely be nice when we get him back.” <\/p>\n

Reds Will Have a Decision to Make \"Red\"<\/p>\n

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Brandon Williamson (55) delivers a pitch in the first inning of a MLB game between the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, at Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati. | Frank Bowen IV\/The Enquirer \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Before Lodolo went down with a blister, the Reds announced that they were going to go with a five-man rotation, but use six guys for those five starts. That included Brandon Williamson. <\/p>\n

Williamson struggled against the Pirates on Tuesday, giving up six runs on six hits in 4 2\/3 innings. He walked two and struck out three. Will the Reds go back to their original idea, or will they simply replace Williamson with Lodolo? <\/p>\n

Below is what manager Terry Francona initially said when they announced their plan. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to have a six-man rotation, but we have six (pitchers) for five (rotation spots),” Francona said<\/a>. \u201cLowder didn\u2019t pitch last year. Williamson hasn\u2019t pitched in 15 months, and Burns has 13 minor-league starts. We\u2019re trying to help those guys along and not sacrifice winning.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s getting ahead of ourselves. First, the Reds just need to see Nick Lodolo look right on Thursday in Daytona. It\u2019s less about the results and more about how he feels and whether he looks healthy. Missing a couple starts early isn\u2019t ideal, but they need him for the long haul.<\/p>\n

Sign Up For Our DAILY Newsletter for More Free Coverage of the Cincinnati Reds Delivered to YOU Directly<\/a><\/p>\n

Follow me on X at @RedsDaily4 for more. <\/p>\n

Make sure you bookmark Cincinnati Reds Talk for the latest news, exclusive interviews, and daily coverage of the Cincinnati Reds! Follow Cincinnati Reds OnSI on Twitter\/X: @RedsTalkSI. Like Our Cincinnati Reds On SI Facebook Page. Follow Cincinnati Reds On SI on Instagram.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cincinnati Reds pitcher Nick Lodolo will make a significant step in his rehab process on Thursday night. He…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":658005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2400],"tags":[5,535,50,4259,4,536],"class_list":{"0":"post-658004","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-reds","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-cincinnati","10":"tag-cincinnati-reds","11":"tag-cincinnatireds","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-reds"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116332971934251136","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}