Nick Lodolo Is Starting to Look Like Himself Again

The Cincinnati Reds are starting to see the old Nick Lodolo again, and this is something they absolutely need moving forward through the 2026 season.

In Lodolo's last start on Sunday afternoon against the Atlanta Braves, he pitched into the 7th inning, going 6 2/3 innings with 3 earned runs, 4 strikeouts, 4 walks, and 5 hits. Was it perfect? No, not by any means, but you continue to see the progress being made. In his previous start last Monday vs the New York Mets, Lodolo went into Queens. Lodolo went 6 innings with 7 strikeouts, 1 earned run, and 6 hits. This brought his ERA for the week to 2.84. He went into the matchup with the Mets with an ERA of 7.20.

Even if you go back to his start on May 18th vs the Philadelphia Philles, you began to see the progress being made with a 5 and 2/3 3 earned run performance in an unfortunate losing effort as the Reds Graham Ashcraft gave up a 2 run home run in the bottom of the 8th inning.

You knew it could take some time to see Nick Lodolo get back to being himself with the time he missed, including being pulled early from a rehab assignment in early April, but with all the injuries the Reds have had in the pitching staff, including Reds ace Hunter Greene looking like he won't be with the team until July, the Reds are needing Nick Lodolo to not only be this version of himself, but continuing to round into the form we all know he can be.

As the Reds head into June coming off of a disappointing month of May, the reassurance for the team is that with Lodolo getting back to where he needs to be, along with Andrew Abbott beginning to look like the All-Star he was last season, and phenom Chase Burns is making his case to be the best pitcher in the National League, we should begin to see the Reds flex their strength we all thought they would have with starting pitching.

If you're Terry Francona, after Lodolo's last three performances, you have to feel like your team has a chance to make a run back to the top of the NL Central. This, of course, could go the other way if the Reds' other injuries, including as we all wait for the Elly De La Cruz news. But, Francona knows right now he at least has three starting pitchers he can rely on to give quality starts.