Insane Nick Lodolo comp will have Reds fans doing backflips if it comes true

Every single Cincinnati Reds fan knows that Nick Lodolo has frontline starter stuff. If we're being honest, Lodolo might be the best pitcher on the entire Reds' staff. But one glaring problem has continually kept the former first-round pick from reaching his ceiling.

Lodolo can't stay healthy. After an injury-riddled season in 2023 saw him start just seven games, Lodolo made four separate trips to the injured list in 2024 for various ailments, and finger issue ended his season having started only 21 games.

But Reds fans are holding out hope that Lodolo can put his injury-ravaged history in the rear view mirror and play up to his potential in 2025. If he does, MLB.com believes that Lodolo has the ability to mimic Tarik Skubal's Cy Young Award-winning season.

Could Reds' starter Nick Lodolo match Tarik Skubal's Cy Young Award-winning season?

In an article titled 10 players who could be 2025 versions of '24's breakout stars, MLB.com contributor David Adler attempted to find intriguing 2025 comps for last season's breakout performers. Adler believes that Lodolo could replicate Skubal's 2024 — a talented pitcher who finally stays healthy and dominated the competition.

Prior to Skubal's 2024 campaign, the left-hander was 23-27 in 75 career games. The potential was always there, as evidenced by his 3.87 ERA, 1.147 WHIP, 420 punch outs, and was worth 5.1 bWAR. Skubal had a career-year last season, going 18-4 with a league-best 2.39 ERA, 0.922 WHIP, 228 strikeouts, and eclipsed his career-WAR, posting a 6.3 bWAR in 2024.

To date, Lodolo's shown flashes of the very potential that Skubal realized last season. The Reds' southpaw is 15-14 in 47 starts with a 4.52 ERA, 1.292 WHIP, and 300 strikeouts in 253 innings pitched and 3.6 bWAR. The 84.1 innings per season is the biggest detractor on Lodolo's resumé thus far.

Reds fans would be doing backflips if Lodolo reached Skubal's 2024 level of dominance during the upcoming season. The Reds have a formidable rotation with Lodolo, Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott, Nick Martinez, Rhett Lowder, and Brady Singer, but so much depends on the overall health of those six pitchers. If Lodolo stays off the IL, it's not out of the realm of possibilities for him to match Skubal's Cy Young Award-winning season from a year ago.

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