DENVER – Nick Lodolo hasn’t ruled anything out in his mind. If the Cincinnati Reds are in the playoff race at the end of the season and he’s still pitching well, he knows there’s a chance that he could be called up.
That’s just not where he’s letting his mind wander right now.
“One step at a time” Lodolo said. “That's the way I'm taking it. Let's get healthy and get back going and get to Louisville.”
Lodolo’s numbers speak for themselves: a 0.84 ERA in seven starts at Double-A Chattanooga with 46 strikeouts and six walks in 32 innings.
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The main thing that has prevented him from a potential promotion to Triple-A Louisville is a nagging blister on the pad of his left pointer finger. He made only one start between May 30 and July 6, putting a pause into his magnificent season.
He’s begun to work his way back into a normal routine. He represented the Reds at the Futures Game in Colorado last weekend, retiring all three batters he faced. He was scheduled to pitch three or four innings Saturday for Chattanooga.
“I’m happy with where I’m at,” said the 23-year-old Lodolo. “Obviously, I want to get better. There are still things that I can still do better. But the improvements that I wanted to make, especially after last year at Prasco and what I was doing in spring training, has carried over to the season and I’m happy with it. I feel good. The biggest thing now is hopefully there is no setbacks and just keep that going.”
An important step for Lodolo’s development was a start against the Detroit Tigers before the start of the 2020 season. It was one of his first times facing big-league hitters and he gave up five runs in the second inning, including three straight homers.
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What did he learn?
“You cannot be predictable,” Lodolo said. “Big league hitters, no matter what count, nothing, you can have velo, you can have a good fastball or think you do, but if they know a heater is coming, it’s going to get landed on. That’s exactly what happened. That’s what I learned. Honestly, it made me a lot better.
“It sucked. Obviously, no one wants to give up three homers in a row, but honestly, in the long run, it’s going to make me better and help me out.”
He spent last summer at the Reds’ alternate site in Mason, Ohio, which was more opportunities to face Triple-A hitters and guys who were sent up and down from the Majors.
“When you face them every five days for three months, the same hitters, they’re going to figure you out,” Lodolo said. “It really makes you learn how to pitch. They’ve seen all your stuff. You can still get them out. You just have to learn how to pitch. There is really nothing else to it.”
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Lodolo worked on developing his changeup, giving him another pitch to pair with his low-90s fastball and a sweepy curveball.
Statcast, a computer algorithm, calls his breaking ball a slider, but he says he holds it like a curveball. Plus, he’s working on another pitch that moves like a slider – “I don't want to call it a slider because what am I going to call the other one?” he said.
There are a few examples in the last two decades where a star prospect was expedited to the Major Leagues to help a team’s bullpen during a playoff run.
David Price, a Cy Young winner and five-time All-Star, started his career in the Tampa Bay Rays bullpen for one month and he was a part of their 2008 World Series run before shifting to the rotation. Brandon Finnegan, a first-round pick, joined the Kansas City Royals bullpen for their World Series run in 2014.
“I've got to take care of myself first,” Lodolo said. “If that's an opportunity, that takes care of itself. I can't worry about that. My finger has got to be right and I have just have to keep doing what I've been doing. I've got to get to Louisville first.”
Whether it's a chance to contribute later this season or in 2022, the Reds are pleased with the development of their top pitching prospects.
Lodolo and Hunter Greene pitched on back-to-back days at Chattanooga before Greene was promoted to Triple-A. Both pitchers overpowered hitters in their first taste of the Double-A level.
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“I never thought going out there thinking, ‘I’ve got to outdo what Hunter did,’” Lodolo said. “I just went out there and pitched. Hunter and I, we get along really well. We're really good friends. It’d be like, ‘Hunter, go do your thing,’ He did it. And then it’d be like, all right, now I’m going to do it.
“It kind of sucked for teams having to face us 1 and 2.”
It’s not a stretch to think that Greene and Lodolo could be in the Reds’ rotation together next year.
“That’s our goal,” Lodolo said. “That’s why the Reds picked us where they did and paid us. That’s what everyone wants to see and, obviously, we’d like to see that, too.”
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