The Cincinnati Reds have a handful of significant pieces who have been out injured in various forms and fashions, and on Thursday afternoon manager Terry Francona gave updates on a trio of players who’ve featured so far in 2026.
Some of the news was rather good. Nick Lodolo, who’s been plagued by blisters on his throwing hand – potentially due to the grip used on his slider – will face hitters in live batting practice on Friday. That was relayed to the beats prior to Thursday’s series opener against
the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Similar good news was reported in the form of Brandon Williamson’s rehab start, which will begin on Saturday with AA Chattanooga. Williamson was shut down after just 6 games in late April after being sidelined all of 2025 following Tommy John surgery, his 2026 problems coming from his shoulder. Getting him back to help fill some innings at season’s end would be paramount given that Chase Burns is heading towards an innings limit and Brady Singer is likely to be traded by the August 3rd deadline, and now he seems on track to help do just that.
The news wasn’t all good, however. Blake Dunn, who’s been out for a month after revealing pain in his throwing elbow, will go ahead and have surgery. As MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon relayed, they won’t know exactly how deep the surgery will have to go until they get in there, but that at least leaves on the table the potential for Tommy John surgery which, at this point of the year, would mean he’d be out for the bulk of 2027, too.
That all follows up the unfortunate news about Jose Franco from Tuesday’s doubleheader against Cleveland. Called up as the 27th man to provide length in the bullpen game, Franco exited with elbow discomfort. Given that he was the 27th man and not technically on the roster, any time spent on the injured list will be qualified at the AAA level instead of at the big league level, so he would be paid only as a AAA player while out instead of a big leaguer. If the injury were serious enough to require surgery and a lengthy rehab, that’s the difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars for a guy who a) hasn’t banked a ton as a big leaguer yet and b) didn’t get a huge signing bonus up front when he turned pro.
Fortunately, it looks as if that won’t be too long of a stint. As Charlie Goldsmith reported yesterday, it’s a flexor mass problem that will sideline him, but ‘his elbow structurally looked good.’
