The Cincinnati Reds searched for a way to get lefty Nick Lodolo a rehab start on Thursday, doing so while also trying to dodge any of the adverse weather conditions that led to his initial blister flare-up in the first place.
The lefty’s blister issue first became a problem down in Arizona late in spring camp during an abnormal heat wave that pushed local temperatures to near 100 degrees more than a month before those are typical. The blister was bad enough that it needed to be popped, and that set
him back – back enough to land on the 15-day IL to begin the big league season.
Over in Dayton on Thursday with the High-A Dragons, the hope was that Lodolo would be able to build up appropriate innings on that prized left arm so that he’d be able to rejoin the big league rotation as early as possible. And while he looked good for a time down there, he ultimately was forced to exit early as the blister issue was reaggravated, as MLB.com’s Manny Randhawa relayed.
The 60-65 pitches he was expected to throw ended up being just 40, so even if this iteration of the flare-up ends up not nearly as bad, the build up on Lodolo’s arm this early in the season didn’t get nearly as much work as was intended. It remains to be seen how this will impact his return to Cincinnati’s starting rotation, one that’s already down Hunter Greene for likely another three months.
In other Reds news – or potential Reds news – Rece Hinds has been on one of his vintage tears to start the season with AAA Louisville after missing out on a spot on the Reds Opening Day roster despite a brilliant Cactus League campaign down in Goodyear. He’s doing positively Sal Stewart-level stuff for the Bats early on, and as of Friday morning owns a .440/.516/.920 (1.436 OPS) through the first 6 games of the AAA season.
He’s homered three times, tripled, and doubled already while going 11 for 25 to begin the year, scoring seven runs while posting a solid 5/7 K/BB. This is after he hit .410/.465/.949 (1.414 OPS) with 5 homers and 4 doubles in 21 Cactus League games as well as after hitting .302/.359/.563 (.921 OPS) in a much larger 435 PA sample at AAA in 2025.
It’s enough to make you wonder just how long he’s going to have to sit in AAA, especially given Noelvi Marte remains hitless and the rest of the Cincinnati outfield is struggling almost as mightily right now. It’s obviously still incredibly early, but the collective .206 wOBA by Cincinnati’s outfielders right now ranks 3rd worst in all Major League Baseball at the moment. That equates to a 26 wRC+, and they are also one of just three clubs without a dinger from an outfielder this season.
For what it’s worth, both JJ Bleday and Blake Dunn are also pretty hot to begin 2026 with Louisville, just not quite as hot as Hinds.
Finally, the Class-A Daytona Tortugas announced their roster for their Opening Day, which is today (Friday, April 3rd). Included among that bunch are highly touted OFs Arnaldo Lantigua and Mason Neville, top prospect (and power smasher) Tyson Lewis, and pitchers Sheng-En Lin and Mason Morris. It also includes RHP Lisnerkin Lantigua, who immediately ranks high on my all-names team.
