The Cincinnati Reds could be getting back right-handed pitcher Rhett Lowder soon. He has not pitched in three weeks, exiting his May 7th start against the Cubs in the 4th inning and then landing on the injured list.
The first six starts of the season went quite well for Lowder and the Reds. Cincinnati went 4-2 in his six starts before April ended. As for Lowder, he threw 34.0 innings in those six games and allowed just one home run, walked 10, struck out 25, and had an ERA of 3.18.
When May rolled around things went sideways quickly. On May 2nd he took on the Pittsburgh Pirates and they just didn’t have any control that day and walked four batters and allowed five hits and eight runs in just 1.1 innings. Five days later the control wasn’t there again as he walked four more batters against the Chicago Cubs and gave up three runs in 3.0 innings before injuring himself facing the third hitter of the 4th inning (he walked the first two).
The injury was shoulder discomfort in official terms. Lowder got an MRI and that came back clean with no structural damage, but he was dealing with “clicking” in his shoulder and got a cortisone shot in there to attempt to take care of that issue.
He never stopped throwing after he went on the injured list, things were just calmed down a bit. He pitched a simulated game on Wednesday, as reported by Mark Sheldon of Reds.com, and manager Terry Francona noted in his pregame interview with the media before the Mets game that the plan was to get Lowder out on a rehab start on Tuesday.
While teams tend to prefer that their rehabbing players play at home ballparks, next week that is not at all an option as the full-season teams are on the road. That likely means that Lowder will join the Triple-A Louisville Bats as they take on Memphis.
With Lowder out, Brandon Williamson out, and Hunter Greene out, the Reds had to figure out how to round out their rotation. Rather than go to the minor leagues and have Chase Petty come up to fill in for Lowder they opted to sign Chris Paddack after he was released by Miami. In his two starts for Cincinnati sign signing he’s allowed five runs in 10.0 innings (4.50 ERA). If Lowder gets through his rehab assignment without issue the club is going to have to make a decision on Paddack, who can’t be sent to the minor leagues.
Given the bullpen struggles, not sure the Reds can afford to give up pitching that has shown to be competent. There is a need for a long man as well as Phillips and Maxwell don’t fit the profile and haven’t performed.
Seems a Benson DFA makes the most sense. It would be surprising if another team picked him up imo.
Since Paddack seems to do alright his first time through the lineup, why not send him to the bullpen?
Sure, he doesn’t have great “stuff”, but he throws strikes and gets guys out, which is more than you can say for some of the bullpen pitchers.
He could be a great change-of-pace pitcher to follow Burns or Greene. Going from 100mph fast balls to mid-80’s slop would be a tough adjustment for hitters to make in a game.
“why not send him to the bullpen?”
I think that’s what I’d do once Lowder returns. Send Maxwell down and put Paddack in the pen as an innings eater. At least until we have Greene back.
Paddack will be useful on the 26-man for a few more weeks, if not into August. Phillips will return, maybe later than sooner, but Mey and Maxwell don’t have it and don’t need to be used in MLB this season. As for the 40-man spot, they have a few more choices to make.
Phillips walked 2 in 1 inning last night.Him coming up soon is a stretch.
Lowder returning to his early season form, along with Greene’s return, will have a positive effect on the bullpen……hopefully. More length from the starters will allow better late game usage and keep them fresh. That said, this is not a dominant playoff-type bullpen, so Krall shouldn’t delude himself into thinking Pagan will save the day or that Santillan will suddenly become the 2025 version of himself. That’s not what winning teams do. They need help—-bullpen is 26th in ERA, 1st in walks, 14th in strikeouts and home runs.
Interesting to read that Tarik Skubal had the cutting edge ‘nano-needle’ procedure to remove his elbow bone chips and is throwing a simulated game 3 weeks later.
There was some talk at the beginning of the season ( pre pitcher injuries) that if the young pitchers flourished , Tito might employ a 6 man rotation because none of the pitchers have put many innings on their arms in a season. Has anyone heard that game plan being talked about recently?
As previously mentioned, Paddack as the long reliever makes the most sense. Maxwell back to Louisville. The biggest issue with the pitching staff is the number of walks allowed. Also, I haven’t seen a pitching staff that allows so many walks after getting ahead 0-2 on hitters. Number 1 priority for the FO when looking for relievers in the offseason is signing guys with lower WHIP and BAA. Velocity and strikeout rate should not be the main priorities. An out is an out. A grounder or fly ball out is just as effective and may require less pitches to do so.
When Lowder will be activated I would go for Paddack moving to the bullpen at least until Hunter Greene is back and as long as the other guys stay healthy. Reds need a long man who could throw 2 or 3 innings in mid-leverage situations. Zach Maxwell should be optioned again…