Vladimir Gutierrez will get another shot after Nick Lodolo suffers setback

It sounds as if we won't be seeing Nick Lodolo as soon as we thought. The Cincinnati Reds skipped Lodolo's scheduled start on Saturday, and it was revealed that the left-hander had suffered a setback. Per Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the injury isn't thought to be a long-term concern.

Lodolo was placed on the 10-day Injured List after his most recent start with a lower back injury, but the southpaw was expected to return to the rotation this weekend. Instead, Connor Overton started Game 1 of yesterday's doubleheader versus the Pittsburgh Pirates and Dauri Moreta started Game 2.

While this is not good news for the Reds as a whole, it might offer a glimmer of hope to fellow starting pitcher Vladimir Gutierrez. The right-hander has struggled mightily this season, but without much depth in the rotation, David Bell may be forced to turn to Gutierrez one more time.

Reds will likely have to give Vladimir Gutierrez another start.

Luis Castillo, who's been on a rehab assignment for the past few weeks, is ready to go. Fans should expect to see La Piedra back on the bump tomorrow against the Milwaukee Brewers.

That would normally be Vladimir Gutierrez's turn through the rotation. Had Nick Lodolo returned to the team yesterday, we'd have likely seen Gutierrez optioned to Triple-A Louisville. Instead, the Reds will likely just bump Gutierrez's next start back by one day and send the right-hander to the hill on Tuesday evening.

Gutierrez has more walks than strikeouts this season and has made it just 21.1 innings through five starts. According to FanGraphs, the 26-year-old has an ERA of 8.86 and a FIP of 7.53. One look at Gutierrez's Baseball Savant page will show nothing will show nothing of intrigue other than the spin-rate on his curveball that ranks in the 62nd percentile.

But even with Luis Castillo returning this week, the Cincinnati Reds are still without the aforementioned Nick Lodolo, Mike Minor, and Justin Dunn. At this moment, all three would likely be better options. But for now, the Reds are going to have to give Vladimir Gutierrez another shot.

Gutierrez has a good mix of pitches, and a trip to the minors would likely do the Cuban a great deal of good. I have a feeling that's his eventual destination, but Cincinnati has to get healthy first.