Exercising caution, Reds placing Lowder on 15-day IL

CINCINNATI – After a meeting on Saturday with manager Terry Francona and team staff, the Reds have decided to place talented right-handed starting pitcher Rhett Lowder on the 15-day injured list.

Lowder told Francona following a mound visit in his last start Thursday at Wrigley Field that he heard “a clicking” in his right shoulder. After back-to-back walks to Alex Bregman and Ian Happ to open the fourth, Lowder threw one pitch to Michael Busch and came hesitantly off the mound.

Francona came out to visit with training staff and Lowder was pulled. An MRI taken Friday revealed no structural damage to the shoulder, and there was even some thought to having the 24-year-old throw a bullpen on Sunday. But that thought was scratched and instead the decision was made for him to just rest for a couple of weeks.

"We're going to place him on the IL,” Francona said before Sunday’s series finale with the Astros. “I think our thought was we're trying not to put a band-aid on something [and] that we want this kid to be able to pitch, and pitch for a long time and not get interrupted. So hopefully, a couple weeks down will do him a world of good."

Francona said Lowder - who is 3-3 with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP in eight starts - would continue to throw but not off a mound in formal bullpen or side sessions until his shoulder is at full strength.

Lowder, who missed all of 2025 with forearm and oblique issues, showed promise early this season, going 3-1 with a 3.18 ERA in his first six starts. But on May 2 in Pittsburgh, Lowder was hit for eight runs and five hits in a career-short 1 1/3 innings. Five days later, he was charged with three runs and four walks in three-plus innings before being pulled against the Cubs.

Lowder was not expected to pitch again until Wednesday against Washington. No decision has been made on who will be coming up to take his spot. Chase Petty last pitched on Monday in Chicago, taking Brandon Williamson's spot.