When the Cincinnati Reds drafted Nick Lodolo 7th overall in the 2019 Major League Baseball draft he was considered the top pitcher in the draft, the closest starting pitcher to the majors, and very polished. His professional debut following the draft didn’t do much to change that perception. He began in innings, pitching in limited pitch games after a long season at TCU, and he struck out 21 batters without a walk in 11.1 innings for the Billings Mustangs. The Reds then promoted him to what was then Low-A Dayton (they are now the High-A affiliate). He made two more starts with the Dragons, striking out nine batters without a walk in 7.0 innings. 18.1 innings, no walks, 30 strikeouts. That’s where his first season ended.
Unfortunately we didn’t get to see a 2020 minor league season. For Nick Lodolo he did spend the summer with the Cincinnati Reds alternate site team in Mason, Ohio – but he didn’t get called up to the big leagues. This year he began the season in Double-A Chattanooga with the Lookouts. The lefty went out last night and toyed with the Rocket City Trash Pandas. Lodolo allowed two hits over 5.0 shutout innings. He walked no one, again, and he picked up 10 strikeouts along the way. Some simple math tells us that he’s now at 40 strikeouts without a single walk in his professional career over a span of 23.1 innings between Rookie, Low-A, and Double-A baseball.
On the night it was a good mix of pitches for the left-handed starter. He mixed in his change up frequently with his fastball and his slider. That’s something that in college and in his 2019 professional debut he hadn’t done a lot of. But not only did Lodolo mix in the change up, he got very good results with the change up, too. Baseball HQ’s prospect writer Chris Blessing was in attendance and noted that through the 4th inning that all nine of the change ups thrown by Lodolo were strikes.
Christian Roa to the 7-day injured list
During spring training a name that kept popping up was Christian Roa. He was the Reds 2nd round pick last year, so it’s not surprising that he was being talked about in general, but he had gone from a guy throwing 92-94 in college to a guy who was throwing 95-97 during the spring out in Goodyear.
He made his professional debut with Daytona on Opening Day for the Tortugas, but he only threw one inning, allowed two hits and a run while striking out three batters. The velocity was down on the day – he topped out at 94 and sat in the 90-92 range. Small sample size of just one inning, but that’s a pretty big drop off from the 95-97 reports that were coming out of Goodyear.
Yesterday he was added to the 7-day injured list, retroactive to May 5th, with a right flexor mass strain. We’ll see how this goes, but I’ve been told it’s not considered to be serious and he isn’t likely to miss much time at all.
Leonardo Seminati to the injured list with a concussion
Daytona had another roster move on Thursday. Leonardo Seminati was also placed on the injured list. On Wednesday he was hit in the head by a breaking ball and suffered a concussion.
Daytona added Alex McGarry and Brett Lockwood to their roster to take place of Roa and Seminati. McGarry was an undrafted free agent signing last summer. He placed at Oregon State and hit .292/.391/.495 with 11 home runs in 63 games during college. Lockwood was also an undrafted free agent signing last summer. He pitched two years at Palomar College before spending two years at Kansas State. He only made one start in college in his four seasons, pitching in 34 games as a reliever. In total he posted an ERA of 3.99 in 58.2 innings with 27 walks and 47 strikeouts.