Nick Lodolo shows Cincinnati Reds what might have been – and what might yet be – in return

CHICAGO – So this is what the Cincinnati Reds making the playoffs last year would have looked like.

When left-hander Nick Lodolo finally made his long-awaited return to the mound Saturday after nearly a year away because of injury, he did a lot more than pick up where he left off — against the same team he finished with in 2023, no less.

He also delivered a loud, vivid demonstration of what the Reds were missing last September during a surprising pennant drive that fell two wins short of the playoffs — if not why his return now might amount to the biggest roster “acquisition” of this playoff-minded season for the team.

Just how much better are the Reds today if Lodolo look the rest of the season even close to what he looked like Saturday in a 10-strikeout, 5-0 victory over the White Sox that didn’t include a hit off him until an infield single up the middle in the sixth?

“A lot,” said catcher Luke Maile, who barely had to move his mitt for 91 pitches while Lodolo dotted fastballs and literally unhittable breaking balls. “He’s that type of pitcher.

“I think he’s going to cover a lot of innings, no matter what,” added Maile, whose two-run single opened the scoring in the Reds’ five-run second for all Lodolo would need for his first win in a year. “But with the way he can punch guys out and eliminate the weird stuff that sometimes happens when you’re more of a contact-based guy — it’s important to have both in your rotation and your staff, but having that guy that just wipes hitters out and makes Ks happen, obviously it’s super helpful.”

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Helpful? The Reds were down to emergency callups from Double-A by September last year, trying to fight for the National League’s last playoff spot with a rotation crushed by injuries and underperformance.

By now almost everyone in Cincinnati who knows what a baseball is knows the difference it might have made if Lodolo had been able to come back from the stress fracture in his leg in September instead of experiencing that final setback in the rehab start that would be the last time he pitched in 2023.

But what about the impact now, this year, the rest of this season of great promise for a reinforced Reds team?

“We’ve all known that,” manager David Bell said. “If he can just be out there.”

Lodolo, whose next start would come next weekend at home against the Los Angeles Angels, didn’t need all 343 days between big-league starts to know what his return would mean for him — and his team.

“It could mean a lot. If I’m going out there and doing everything I possibly can to put us in the best position to win, that’s my job,” he said. “I feel like I’m doing that. I am going to reap the benefits of all the things I am doing to put me in the best spot.”

As Lodolo talked in the corridor outside visiting clubhouse in Chicago following his start, a fan — presumably of the White Sox — heading toward an exit shouted, “Great job, Nick!”

As Lodolo acknowledged him, the fan added, “And inspiring, too.”

That’s the part about 343 days since the last start. A full year since his last pitching win, against the Phillies at home. Even longer since the last time he pitched more than five innings — a seven-inning no-decision the start before the Phillies win.

What seemed like countless setbacks and restarts since then to reach this triumphant return in his first start since May 6.

“I think it’s more all the work I put in to get here just coming together,” he said. “By no means is the work done or anything. It’s one start. I definitely feel way more prepared than I’ve ever been.

“The things I’ve done for my body to put myself in the best position is definitely the best it’s been in my career. I’m excited to see that keep going.”

The other Reds and their fans should be just as excited for what it means to get back the man many in the game believe is their best pitcher — and who demonstrated as much Saturday when he took a no-hitter into a sixth inning few expected he’d still be around to pitch after so long since his last start.

Bell said he was “just reading the situation” and decided to give him the first three batters of the sixth. After Robbie Grossman rolled his single off second baseman Santiago Espinal’s glove for the hit, Lodolo retired the next two and handed off a 5-0 game to the bullpen.

It validated Bell’s faith in sending him back out, possibly put him in position to pitch even deeper against the Angels and also showed how confident Lodolo and the Reds are that his issues this spring next-day discomfort after pitching are far behind him.

Maybe even a little inspiring.

“I think he feels our energy,” Maile said. “With him being back, I think he was well aware that we couldn’t wait to see him pitch again. He proved us right.”

Notes

Lodolo was the ninth Reds pitcher in history, first since Trevor Bauer in 2020, to strike out at least 10 in a season debut. It’s the 10th time overall (Johnny Cueto did it in both 2008 and 2015). … When Spencer Steer cleared the bases with his two-out, second inning double Saturday, it marked his third hit for at least three RBIs this month (also a grand slam April 1 and three-run homer April 6) — and boosted him back into the NL lead in RBIs.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds' Nick Lodolo dominant in first start in nearly a year