MRI Reveals Months-Long IL Stay for Cincinnati Reds Sophomore

After a solid rookie season that saw him post a 3.66 ERA in his first 19 major league starts, Cincinnati Reds sophomore starting pitcher Nick Lodolo is having a rough follow-up campaign. He's been out for the past six weeks with a leg injury, and now an updated diagnosis has added even more time to his absence.

An MRI on Lodolo's tibia stress reaction has led to the prognosis that he'll need at least another two weeks in a walking boot, after which time, “it would be four to six weeks from that point before he would be back out there,” manager David Bell said. “I feel bad for him. That’s a long time to be in a boot."

Nick Lodolo Likely Sidelined Into August https://t.co/IuqiB33LDh pic.twitter.com/bye4Or6KVD

— Franklin Guitten (@franklinguitten) June 15, 2023

All of that means that mid-August is the best-case scenario for the 25-year-old's return.

Lodolo came into the season as one of the 'Big Three' in the Reds' young starting rotation (with Hunter Greene and Graham Ashcraft), but after a promising start to the year — just four earned runs in his first three starts — he ballooned to a 6.29 ERA after his seventh and final start before going on the IL. 

The Reds have the worst rotation ERA (5.93) in the National League, but their exciting offense has them just a game-and-a-half out of first place in the NL Central, winners of seven of their last nine games. 

Photo: Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK