Reds starting pitcher seeking second opinion on serious leg injury

Reds starter Nick Lodolo is headed for a second opinion after being diagnosed with another stress reaction in his left tibia, manager David Bell informed the club’s beat, via Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. With less than six weeks remaining in the regular season, it seems possible his year is in jeopardy.

Left leg issues have hampered Lodolo since May. He was placed on the injured list with what the club initially called a calf strain. They later modified the diagnosis to a tibia stress reaction which kept him in a walking boot for upward of six weeks. He was able to shed the boot by the start of July and begin ramping up with a goal of returning to an MLB mound by late August.

Lodolo had made three minor league rehab starts over the past two weeks. During a Triple-A appearance on Sunday, the issue flared back up. Even if Lodolo can work back from the injury without surgery, he’s obviously no longer in position to return from the injured list this month.

It’s subpar timing for the Reds, to say the least. Cincinnati is half a game back of the Giants and D-Backs for the NL’s final wild-card spot. They’re in third place in the NL Central, four games behind the division-leading Brewers.

The biggest question is whether their rotation can hold up enough to keep their surprising postseason bid alive. Cincinnati welcomed Hunter Greene back from the 60-day IL over the weekend, but he was tattooed by the Blue Jays in his first start in two months. Andrew Abbott, Brandon Williamson, Graham Ashcraft and Brett Kennedy comprise the rest of the current rotation. Abbott has been excellent, while Ashcraft and Williamson have found their footing in the second half after rough starts. Yet Kennedy is a 29-year-old with 38 2/3 career big league innings, while a recent injury to Ben Lively has further thinned an already tenuous starting staff.

Lodolo had been hit hard in his first seven starts of the season, allowing a 6.29 ERA over 34 1/3 frames. The former No. 7 overall pick had a strong campaign when healthy a year ago, working to a 3.66 ERA while striking out just under 30% of opposing hitters in his first 19 MLB starts.