Reds turn to Nick Lodolo as they look to take series from Rays

The young lefty gets his turn to shine against one of baseball’s best teams

The Cincinnati Reds should be feeling pretty good heading into Tuesday’s match-up with the Tampa Bay Rays. After losing starting pitcher Hunter Greene after the 3rd inning, they romped to an 8-1 victory on the backs of a fantastic performance by the bullpen. Now, they turn to another young pitcher in the hopes of taking the series from the 14-3 Rays.

Nick Lodolo comes into tonight’s game hoping to build off what has been a fantastic start to his second year in the big leagues. He has made 3 starts so far and has looked great. In 17 innings of work, he’s allowed only 4 runs on 18 hits with 6 walks against 27 strikeouts, highlighted by a 12 strikeout outing against the Philadelphia Phillies a couple weeks ago. He has made 1 start against the Rays in his career. That came back on July 10 of last season, where he allowed 3 runs on 9 hits with a walk and 6 strikeouts over 5 innings of work in a 10-5 Reds’ victory.

Lodolo’s opponent will be right-hander Taj Bradley. Bradley was the Rays’ 5th round pick back in 2018 out of Redan High School in Stone Mountain, GA. He entered the 2023 season as the Rays’ top prospect according to mlb.com after a stellar 2022 where he put up a 2.57 ERA in 133.1 innings of work between Double-A and Triple-A. Bradley made his Major League debut on April 12 against the Boston Red Sox and allowed 3 runs on 5 hits with a walk and 8 strikeouts over 5 innings of work.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PM EDT. The game will be broadcast on 700 WLW and televised on Bally Sports Ohio. Go Reds!

Cincinnati Lineup

Tampa Bay Lineup