Photo: Redleg Nation Staff
Rhett Lowder had to exit his start on Thursday against the Chicago Cubs in the 4th inning after he walked the first two hitters of the inning and started off the next batter with a ball. He tried to argue that he could keep pitching and remain in the game but the trainer and Terry Francona decided that it was the best for everyone to pull him and not risk anything. We learned after that that his MRI did come back with no structural damage in his shoulder, which is good. But we also learned that he had some “clicking” in his AC joint and got a cortisone injection in there, which isn’t exactly great.
Today we learned that Lowder would be heading to the 15-day injured list. Francona spoke about it before Sunday’s game against the Astros with the local media. Charlie Goldsmith of Fox19 was the first to report the news, and noted that Francona said that Lowder would continue to throw and that “hopefully a couple weeks down will do him a world of good”.
What we don’t know yet is who will come up and take over his spot in the rotation. The move for Lowder hasn’t been made yet, so they also have not called anyone up yet. Chase Petty, who is the most likely option, is starting on Sunday for the Triple-A Louisville Bats. He came up last week to make a spot start and had his best start in him limited big league career.
With the off day on Monday the Reds can keep everyone else on regular rest if they want to delay things for Petty. They could go with Singer, Lodolo, Burns, and Abbott on normal rest from Tuesday through Friday before needing someone to step in and pitch on Saturday to take over that 5th spot in the rotation that’s now vacated with Lowder heading to the injured list. With an off day on Thursday the 21st the Reds could also choose to skip the 5th spot there if they chose and not need another starter to step in until the 26th. That day is far enough into the future that Lowder could be eligible to return by then if he were to be ready.
Laying things out like that does give the Reds some options. If they did choose to go about things that way, and the weather cooperates along the way, the team could call up a reliever for Lowder until the 16th to lengthen the bullpen before needing to bring in a starter. Then the next day they could option whoever that starter was to bring back another reliever to again lengthen the bullpen until the 26th when they would then need another starting pitcher.