Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo is expected to come off paternity leave on Monday night when Cincinnati visits the Miami Marlins to start a three-game series.
Lodolo (2-1, 2.31 ERA) is off to a great start, having allowed just six earned runs in four starts this season. His Miami counterpart, right-hander Max Meyer (1-2, 2.63 ERA), can sympathize. He has surrendered just seven earned runs in his four outings.
Both pitchers were top-10 picks: Lodolo seventh overall in 2019 and Meyer third overall in 2020.
Meanwhile, each team is coming off a big win, either by the final score or by the drama involved.
The Reds pounded the host Baltimore Orioles 24-2 as Cincinnati’s bottom-of-the-order hitters went wild.
Eighth-place hitter Noelvi Marte, a recent call-up who was playing in just his sixth game this season, went 5-for-7 with seven RBIs, including a grand slam. Backup catcher Austin Wynns, batting ninth, went 6-for-7 with a home run and six RBIs.
Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati’s star shortstop, also had a memorable game. He homered, stole a base and made a spectacular diving catch, flying several yards to the other side of second base to snare the line drive just above head-high.
Reds manager Terry Francona, who won two World Series titles with Boston, was asked prior to Sunday’s game if he was concerned about Cincinnati’s offense.
After all, earlier this season, the Reds went scoreless for 35 consecutive innings earlier this month. They lost three straight games 1-0 along the way.
“They’re good players — they’re going to get hot,” Francona said. “There’s some track record there.”
While the Reds were blasting Baltimore, the Marlins snapped a five-game losing streak by rallying to defeat host Philadelphia 7-6 in 10 innings.
Miami rallied from a 4-1 deficit after six innings as rookie left fielder Javier Sanoja made a diving catch in the bottom of the ninth after going 3-for-4 with five RBIs, including his first homer in the majors. The three-run blast put the Marins ahead 5-4 in the seventh.
Sanoja, who got the start after left fielder Griffin Conine dislocated his shoulder on Saturday, called the home run an “unforgettable moment.”
Lodolo, 27, has struggled with injuries since his college days at Texas Christian.
Last season, for example, he landed on the injured list four times but still managed to post career highs in starts (21), wins (nine) and innings (115 1/3).
He was supposed to start Sunday at Baltimore before moving his slot back due to the impending birth of his first child. While he missed the outpouring of run support, Lodolo has fared well against Miami.
In three career starts versus the Marlins, he is 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA. One of those outings came in Miami last Aug. 6, when he got the win by giving up two runs on two hits and three walks with seven strikeouts.
Meyer, a 26-year-old out of the University of Minnesota, made his major league debut with a pair of starts in 2022, but he missed all of the 2023 season following elbow surgery.
Last season, Meyer made 11 starts, going 3-5 with a 5.68 ERA.
Meyer has been much better this year in his four starts, striking out 27 batters in 24 innings.
In one career start against the Reds, he is 0-1 with a 13.50 ERA, having given up six runs in four innings in the same game Lodolo started last season. But with a mid-90s fastball and a wipeout slider, Meyer is hoping for much better results on Monday.
–Field Level Media
