NEW YORK -- For the first time since going on the injured list earlier this month with right shoulder discomfort, Reds starting pitcher Rhett Lowder faced hitters in a simulated game, aka live BP, on Wednesday at Citi Field.
Lowder threw 45 pitches over the equivalent of three innings and faced his teammates, including Will Benson and Matt McLain.
“It was good. Ball was coming out good. Velocity was higher than what I was seeing most of the season. It feels good," Lowder said.
Manager Terry Francona, pitching coach Derek Johnson and the rest of the Reds' rotation were among those watching Lowder work.
Up next, most likely, is a rehab assignment start for Triple-A Louisville on Tuesday at Memphis.
“We’ll certainly make sure he comes in tomorrow and the next day feeling OK, but the idea would be we’d send him out Tuesday," Francona said.
What was still unclear is if it would take only one rehab start for Lowder or if he would get more.
“I think there’s a lot of possibilities, but I don’t know that we need to put the cart ahead of the horse," Francona said. "I think getting him healthy is what is really important.”
Lowder exited his May 7 start vs. the Cubs at Wrigley Field in the fourth inning after reporting discomfort and a clicking sensation in his right shoulder. An MRI showed no structural damage, but the 24-year-old was placed on the 15-day injured list on May 13 (retroactive to May 10).
Bullpen sessions began last week, and Lowder has been able to progress relatively quickly.
"I think he was out throwing two or three days [later], that’s all it was," Francona said. "So he’s not building back up. They just really had been stressing and working on range of motion, activating the right muscles and kind of retraining that shoulder, and he’s done a really good job.”
"We kind of got the problem and narrowed it down pretty early, so it was just hyper-specific work to do strengthening some areas," Lowder said. "It’s going to be continuing to stay on that and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Following a breakout first big league month at the end of the 2024 season, Lowder missed all of 2025 with elbow and oblique injuries. He had a 3.10 ERA over his first five starts this season but was 0-2 with a 12.54 ERA over his last three starts.
Overall, Lowder is 3-3 with a 5.40 ERA in eight starts for Cincinnati this season.
Lowder believed the team's efforts to proceed cautiously benefitted him and could enable a relatively short stint on the IL.
"I think we got a good grasp on it early," he said. "It didn’t just spring on us. We were working on some stuff and we knew that it got to that point like, ‘All right, we need to get this now,’ so I wouldn’t have to ride through the rest of the year or potentially get worse. I think we did the right thing.”