ARLINGTON -- Nick Lodolo initially hoped by now that a return to the Reds’ rotation from a left index finger blister was imminent. As of Friday, one day after Lodolo's rehab assignment at Single-A Daytona was cut short, his return was even more up in the air.
Lodolo was 40 pitches into a planned 60-65 pitch outing, while retiring all eight batters faced, when he had to stop with two outs in the third inning.
“It’s the same thing," Lodolo said on Friday after flying to Texas from Daytona. "Frustrating for sure. In the third inning, I thought I was in the clear. On the 40th pitch, it came back up. We’re going to still talk in there and get a plan together on what to do going forward.”
The short-term plan is for Lodolo to rest for a couple of days before he resumes playing catch. It was hoped that if the start at Daytona went well, he would rejoin the rotation during the current road trip's stop at Miami (Monday-Thursday).
Lodolo, 28, came down with the blister during his final Spring Training start on March 22 and he opened the season on the 15-day injured list. It's an injury that's previously cropped up in 2021, while in the Minors, and also during his past two seasons with Cincinnati.
The blister becomes an issue on the pad of the index finger when Lodolo throws his slider. There's a callous at the tip where he grips his fastball.
“Everybody is different. Everybody, we think we have the cure-all. He’s been battling this, I think, since college. We’ve just got to try to figure it out," manager Terry Francona said.
Lodolo, Francona, pitching coach Derek Johnson and head trainer Sean McQueeney met after the left-hander arrived at Globe Life Field from the airport. They will continue to put their heads together to come up with how to move forward.
“He’s going to be, obviously, the biggest voice, because he’s the one who has to do it," Francona said of Lodolo.
Pitching through the issue doesn't seem to be on the table.
“I’ve definitely tried that and it doesn’t go well in multiple different ways," Lodolo said. "It’s something we’re going to keep trying to attack.”
Changing grips or delivery is also fraught with issues that could compound the problem as well.
Now it's finding the right remedy to prevent the blister from recurring.
“All the quote-unquote known ones, I’ve tried," Lodolo said. "We’ve got some outside stuff we’ve tried and we’re going to experiment with. Hopefully, something is fixed.”
If Lodolo misses much more time, he would be forced to build back up again. After he threw 77 pitches on March 17, he made 10 before exiting his final spring game. Lodolo would need to make at least 75-80 pitches to be deemed ready for a big league game.
The Reds are also without Hunter Greene, who is targeted for a July return after having arthroscopic surgery last month to remove bone chips from his right elbow. The club is leaning on three young starters in Rhett Lowder, Chase Burns and Brandon Williamson to get through. Jose Franco, ranked as the club's No. 11 prospect by MLB Pipeline, is a starter but is being used as a long reliever.
“The first time through, we made it OK and we had an 11-inning game," Francona said. "If there’s a need, we’ll revisit it after a game. I think we’re getting to a point where another week where you can recall guys that are on the roster. The day off helps and now we’re going to have [seven games] in a row. We’ll keep an eye on it.”
Franco, who was recalled from Triple-A Louisville to replace Lodolo on the active roster, is viewed as an option mostly to pitch behind one of the young starters.
“We don’t envision him not starting the whole year," Francona said. "That would really hurt his development. We don’t want to stunt somebody’s development.”
The 2025 season was Lodolo's best in the big leagues so far. While going 9-8 with a 3.33 ERA in 29 games, he set a career high in starts (28), innings (156 2/3) and strikeouts (156), while also throwing two complete games with one shutout.
“It’s really frustrating," Lodolo said. "I felt like I had a good year last year and I wanted to come in this year strong and build upon that. It’s still my goal, whatever time that is going to be. But I think the main goal right now is really just -- I got to get back to where I could even compete at this level.”