Cincinnati Reds left-handed starting pitcher Nick Lodolo currently finds himself on the 15-day injured list with a blister on his index finger. He’s eligible to return to the mound in the big leagues on April 7th. Mark Sheldon of Reds.com is reporting that Lodolo is scheduled for a bullpen session on Sunday and that if he comes through that with no issues that he could make a rehab start on Wednesday with Triple-A Louisville (who is the only farm team in-season as of Wednesday).
While there was no expectation that this would keep Lodolo off of the mound for very long, if he’s going to rehab on Wednesday that could put him on track to join the big league club the day he’s eligible to return. Cincinnati is in Miami that night to take on the Marlins.
Mark your calendars, maybe
One of the things that Major League Baseball is no longer offering during the regular season is the MLB.tv Free Game of the Day. Sort of. It is not going to be free anymore, but what they have done is made it so one game per day will be included with an ESPN Unlimited subscription and with a Peacock subscription.
On March 31st the Pittsburgh Pirates vs Cincinnati Reds game will be the game included on Peacock with your subscription. So if you do not have a way to watch the Reds currently but do have a Peacock subscription, put it down on your calendar that you can tune in on Tuesday night for the game.
Down on the Farm
Triple-A Louisville started their season last night with a 2-1 win over Omaha. Blake Dunn, Hector Rodriguez, and Rece Hinds all had two hits in the game. The second hit of the night for Hinds was a single back up the middle. That line drive had an exit velocity of 115 MPH.
But the big news from the game was how well Chase Petty pitched. He had a brutal second half in 2025 with Louisville after a strong first half. His ERA was nearly 10.00 in his final 14 starts with Louisville after being under 3.00 in the first 12. Last night he struck out eight batters and didn’t give up a run in his 4.2 innings before he was pulled as he reached his pitch count (72 pitches, 49 strikes). Within there he had 18 swinging strikes as he just had the Storm Chasers hitters off balance all night.
Get some free Mountain Dew Baja Blast
Major League Baseball will take sponsorship money from anyone (including drug companies who have a very ugly “legal issues” section on their wikipedia page). But sometimes they hit a home run with things like T-Mobile and their free MLB.tv promotion for users and now this year with Mountain Dew. Fans can sign up and get a free 20 oz Mountain Dew Baja Blast the following day if anyone in Major League Baseball hits a home run 420 feet or further the day before. It is only eligible for the following day, so you can’t just hope to go to the grocery store and get 144 of them on the final day of the season for free. Still, it’s a nice little perk if you enjoy Baja Blast.
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