CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Reds know that lefty Nick Lodolo will start Wednesday against the Washington Nationals and Chase Burns will start Thursday’s series finale, but after that?
“We’re still working through stuff,” Reds manager Terry Francona said Tuesday afternoon.
When prodded with another speculative question about the team’s pitching plans, Francona again said, “Obviously, we’re working through some things.”
Francona and the Reds’ front office had plenty to work through even before Brady Singer, Tuesday’s starter, was hit in the right foot on a 106.7 mph comebacker off the bat of Daylen Lile in the second inning of the Reds’ 10-4 loss to the Nationals and exited the game in the fourth inning. X-rays taken on Singer’s foot during the game showed no fracture, Francona said.
“I’d like to see what tomorrow brings, but I’ll do everything I can to make the next (start),” Singer said.
Singer stayed in the game and even made a nice play on a sacrifice bunt attempt by the next batter, Nasim Nuñez, and got out of the inning.
Daylen Lile was one of two Nationals players with two home runs Tuesday. All three of the home runs the Reds’ Brady Singer allowed came after he was hit in his right foot by a batted ball. (Dylan Buell / Getty Images)
Because he was hit in his right foot, however, he wasn’t able to push off as he normally does, and his velocity dipped. In the third inning, the Nationals’ top two batters in the lineup, James Wood and Luis García Jr., homered off him. Lile then led off the fourth with a home run.
“I didn’t, obviously, want to screw the bullpen coming out,” Singer said. “(I) just tried the best I could with the circumstances.”
Singer gave up a hit to Nuñez but retired the bottom hitters in the team’s order before lefty Sam Moll came in to face the left-handed Wood at the top of the order.
Lile and Garcia added home runs off Moll and Luis Mey in the fifth inning, and Brady House hit one off Tony Santillan in the eighth, marking a season-high six home runs for the 20-22 Nationals.
“As a staff, we’re going to have to attack the strike zone better,” Francona said. “We’re either, it seems, middle of the plate or ball. We’re going to have to do better.”
Another injury to a starter was among the things the Reds could least afford in their current state. The team’s game notes have TBA as the starters for the first two games of this weekend’s series in Cleveland.
With Monday’s off day, it’s possible Sunday’s starter, Andrew Abbott, returns on normal rest to start Friday, but that is only kicking the can down the curb for another starting pitcher.
Rhett Lowder, who left his last start with right shoulder discomfort, is expected to go on the injured list this week. Lowder left last week’s start against the Chicago Cubs in the fourth inning after feeling what he described as “clicking” in his shoulder.
The Reds already have right-hander Hunter Greene and lefty Brandon Williamson on the 60-day IL.
Chase Petty, who made a start last week in Wrigley Field, left his start for Triple-A Louisville on Sunday with a blister on a finger after 3 2/3 innings.
“He bit it off in the first inning, or bit some skin,” Francona said. “I actually saw some pictures of it, it’s kind of weird.”
Petty would’ve been next in line to fill Lowder’s spot in the rotation, but now the Reds have even more to “work through.”
They entered spring training with enviable depth in their rotation. When the team reported to Goodyear, Ariz., Greene, Lodolo, Abbott and Singer occupied the first four spots in the rotation with Burns, Lowder and Williamson competing for the final spot.
First Greene was lost until July after he had surgery to remove loose bodies from his right elbow. Then just before the team left camp, Lodolo developed a blister on the tip of his left index finger, an injury that put him on the IL in each of the previous two seasons. He suffered a setback during his rehab assignment and returned to the rotation only last week.
Williamson went on the IL with left shoulder fatigue last month, and Francona had said the plan was for Lowder to be shut down from throwing for a few weeks. Greene isn’t scheduled to throw off a mound for about 10 more days, Francona said Tuesday.
Right-hander Jose Franco is one of the team’s top starter prospects, but bullpen issues forced him to the big-league bullpen last month. He hasn’t made a start at any level for nearly a month, when he started a pair of games for Triple-A Louisville. He pitched two innings in relief of Petty on Sunday for Louisville.
The internal options are slim. The only other starter currently on the team’s 40-man roster is right-hander Julian Aguiar, who is on the minor-league injured list.
Louisville’s rotation is currently made up of journeyman minor-league pitchers, such as Tuesday’s Bats starter Brandon Leibrandt, who has a 5.03 ERA after allowing five earned runs in five innings in a loss. Wednesday’s starter is left-hander Nate Peterson, who gave up six runs in four innings in his first start in Triple A after being called up from Double-A Chattanooga.
Options from outside the organization include right-handers Chris Paddack and Taijuan Walker and lefty Eric Lauer.
Lauer was designated for assignment by the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday. The Reds would either have to trade for him or hope he clears waivers. Paddack was designated for assignment by the Miami Marlins last week and was released by the team Monday. Walker was released by the Philadelphia Phillies two weeks ago and has not signed with another team.
None of the options are good, leaving the Reds with plenty of stuff to work through.