Nick Lodolo is back on the injured list with a blister on his throwing hand, and for the Reds left-hander, that’s become an all-too-familiar storyline. This time, though, he sounds ready to try something he once resisted: changing the way he grips his slider.
During Tuesday’s broadcast, Reds announcer John Sadak said he had spoken with Lodolo and that the pitcher is open to experimenting with a new slider grip, since that’s the pitch tied to the blister trouble. Then on Wednesday, Charlie Goldsmith followed up with Lodolo, who made clear the issue has pushed him toward a change.
“A lot of it is grip related, I’m trying to change that,” Lodolo told Goldsmith. “I feel like I have to.
It’s weird that last year I can throw 130 innings without getting it, and sometimes you can’t go 50. What’s the difference?”
He still hasn’t settled on the exact grip he’ll use. For now, it’s about testing options and seeing what feels right.
“I have no idea (right now),” Lodolo said. “I haven’t even thrown it yet.
There are so many different grips I can throw. It’s about comfort and ability to execute it.
That tells you everything you need to know.”
That matters because the slider has been Lodolo’s best pitch. Any adjustment there will be worth watching, but if it helps him stay on the mound and avoid these recurring blister problems, it could be a change the Reds gladly take.
While Lodolo works through that issue, Cincinnati’s offense just put together a stretch that belongs in the record book. In the Reds’ three-game series win over the Rockies, Spencer Steer opened the run with a two-homer game on Friday, Jose Trevino followed with two homers on Saturday, and Tyler Stephenson finished it off with a two-homer performance on Sunday.
That gave the Reds a player with multiple home runs in three straight team games for the first time since Aug. 24-27, 2010, when Brandon Phillips hit two homers, Joey Votto added two more, and Jay Bruce capped the streak with a three-homer game.
Trevino and Stephenson also carved out a separate piece of history behind the plate. Their back-to-back two-homer games marked the first time since 1900 that Cincinnati’s starting catcher had hit multiple home runs in consecutive games. The last Major League team to do it was the Tampa Bay Rays in 2015, when Curt Casali turned in multi-homer games on July 27 and July 28.
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