Nick Lodolo found the key to changing his Reds future — what took so long?

The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry is an applicable sentiment for the Cincinnati Reds 2026 season. The team failed miserably at building a competent offense, despite that being offseason priority No.1. However, perhaps even more disappointing is the fact that the starting rotation was supposed to be a strength but has turned into a weakness.

A big reason why has been injuries. The Reds were counting on injury-prone hurlers like Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo to carry them through. Unsurprisingly, both pitchers spent significant time on the IL this season. However, there's a big difference between Greene and Lodolo. The former has a history of severe arm injuries, including two Tommy John surgeries. Lodolo is a different case.

The lanky lefty has consistently missed time throughout his career, though 2025 was a relatively healthy year for him, which created some optimism that the issues that have plagued him were a thing of the past. That hasn't been the case. The most common of the bumps and bruises that have plagued Lodolo have been blisters caused by his breaking ball grip.

Those blisters have surfaced twice this year, limiting Lodolo to just 71⅔ innings this season. Finally, Lodolo decided to change his breaking ball grip, which has proven to be the prime culprit of the blister issue.

The new grip was on display during his first start back on August 11 against the Chicago White Sox, and while Lodolo's overall performance left something to be desired, his new-look curveball looked good. Very good, in fact.

Nick Lodolo's new breaking ball grip bodes well for the Reds' 2027 hopes

While Lodolo only lasted four innings and gave up four runs (including three homers), he struck out five with his curveball taking center stage. Of Lodolo's 70 pitches, 34 of them were breakers, with the pitch being his most common offering of the day.

The pitch generated 11 swings, and of those swings, White Sox batters missed eight times, resulting in an eye-popping 73% whiff rate. On Sunday, Miami Marlins hitters swung and missed on 2-of-6; still a respectable 33% whiff rate.

The curveball has long been Lodolo's most effective weapon, but also the cause of his blister issues. That had previously created a frustrating conundrum where if he had changed the grip, he might solve the blister problem, but that solution might come at the cost of the devastating nature of his breaking pitch.

One start doesn't tell us everything, but it points in the right direction. If Lodolo can actually avoid future blisters and the curveball continues to be a swing-and-miss weapon, he might have solved his biggest bugaboo.

That would be a huge development for the Reds and Lodolo. There had been trade rumors swirling around the southpaw, though after two blister-related IL stints, his value had tanked. At the same time, Cincinnati is in need of top-flight starters given the fact that Greene is out for the rest of 2026 and may not pitch at all in 2027.

Lodolo has the talent to be an ace in his own right, but he has to stay on the mound to prove it. If this new grip solves the problem and the Reds can count on him to anchor the front of the rotation with Chase Burns, they'll be set up well to return to contention in 2027. Should that happen, it will be good news, but it will also bring about frustrating speculation as to what could have been had he dared to make this change years ago.

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