The Cincinnati Reds have the day off on Monday after Sunday afternoon’s series-winning victory over the Houston Astros. They also have a much clearer picture of how their banged-up starting rotation will look this upcoming week as they welcome the Washington Nationals to Cincinnati before heading up to Cleveland for a series over the weekend.
According to C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic, the Reds have leaned on today’s day off to shuffle their healthy starters in a way that will accommodate the loss
of Rhett Lowder to the 15-day injured list, a move that’s expected to be announced prior to the start of Tuesday’s game against the Nationals. It will feature Brady Singer in the opener on Tuesday, Nick Lodolo on Wednesday, and Chase Burns on Thursday, with Friday’s opener on the road against Cleveland listed as ‘TBD.’
Chase Petty threw 79 pitches in 3.2 IP for the AAA Louisville Bats just yesterday in his first start back at the level after being recalled to start last Monday’s series opener for the Reds against the Chicago Cubs. Given how much more advanced he looked in the start in Wrigley relative to the struggles he went through in his initial call-up last season, it would be a shocker if Petty were not recalled to take Lowder’s turn in the rotation on Friday – especially now that it will be on his regular rest.
Cincinnati could also opt to keep Andrew Abbott on regular rest and pitch him on Friday, and even add Petty to pitch Saturday and give the youngster an extra day of rest before his return to the bigs.
What remains to be seen is how the Reds juggle the few days in between. In all likelihood, they’ll recall one of Zach Maxwell, Kyle Nicolas, or Jose Franco to bridge the gap to Petty and give them depth in the bullpen for the series against the Nats. Franco threw 22 pitches yesterday for AAA Louisville in a scoreless pair of IP, while Nicolas allowed a trio of hits and a walk (and 3 runs, somehow all unearned) in 1.1 IP and 35 pitches. Maxwell, meanwhile, hasn’t pitched since May 8th when he threw 25 pitches in a pair of perfect innings against the Nashville Sounds.
We’ll find out before tomorrow’s first pitch!
