Nicholas Frank Lodolo ( ; born February 5, 1998) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022.

Amateur career

Lodolo attended

Damien High School Damien High School is an all-boys Roman Catholic high school in La Verne, in the U.S. state of California, named for Saint Damien of Molokai. It is located in and operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, part of the tri-school ...

La Verne, California La Verne is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 31,334 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The area was home to Native Americans. The European history of the area dates back to the ...

, and played for the school's baseball team as a

. As a senior, he had a 8–2

win–loss record Win–loss may refer to: * Win–loss analytics, analysis of the reasons why a visitor to a website was or wasn't persuaded to engage in a desired action * Win–loss record, also winning percentage * Win–loss record (pitching), the number of ...

with a 1.97

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA),

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Television in the Republic of Ireland, Irish television legal drama television series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017, based on ''The Good Wife'' by Robert King (writer), Robert and Michelle King. Prod ...

83 batters in 65

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

. After his senior year, the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

selected Lodolo with the 41st overall pick in the

2016 Major League Baseball draft The 2016 Major League Baseball draft began on June 9, 2016, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2015 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks were distributed for players who ...

. However, he did not sign and instead chose to fulfill his commitment to attend

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

(TCU) and play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

TCU Horned Frogs The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competi ...

. As a freshman at TCU in 2017, Lodolo appeared in 17 games (15 starts) where he compiled a 5–1 record with a 4.35 ERA. He was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team as well as to the All-Freshman Team. In 2018, as a sophomore, he went 7–4 with a 4.32 ERA, striking out 93 batters in 77 innings over 16 games (15 starts) and was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team once again. Prior to the 2019 season, Lodolo was named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team. Lodolo finished his junior season with a 6–6 record and a 2.36 ERA, striking out 131 in 103 innings. He was named to the All-Big 12 First Team. In his college career, he was 18–11 with a 3.55 ERA in 258 innings, in which he struck out 296 batters and hit 34 batters.

Professional career

Lodolo was considered one of the top prospects for the 2019 Major League Baseball draft. He was selected by the

with the seventh overall pick. He signed for $5.43 million, and was assigned to the

Billings Mustangs The Billings Mustangs are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Billings, Montana, and have played their home games at Deh ...

of the

Rookie Advanced Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

Pioneer League. After six starts with Billings, he was promoted to the

Dayton Dragons The Dayton Dragons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Dayton, Ohio, and play their home games at Day Air Ballpark. In 2011, they broke the record for most ...

of the

Single-A Single-A, formerly known as Class A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A, Double-A (baseball), Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams cl ...

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

in July. Following two starts with Dayton, Lodolo reached his innings limit, and was shut down for the remainder of the year. Over eight starts between Billings and Dayton, he pitched to a 0–1 record with a 2.45 ERA, striking out 30 in innings. Lodolo did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. To begin the 2021 season, he was assigned to the

Chattanooga Lookouts The Chattanooga Lookouts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team plays its home g ...

of the Double-A South. He was named the league's Player of the Month in May after compiling a 1.01 ERA with 38 strikeouts and a 0.83 WHIP over innings. On June 15, he was placed on the

injured list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

due to a blister on a finger on his left hand, and was activated a few weeks later. That same month, Lodolo was selected to play in the

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League- ...

Coors Field Coors Field is a baseball stadium in downtown Denver, Colorado. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies. Opened in 1995 Major League Baseball season, 1995, the park is located in Denver's LoDo, Lower Downtown neighborhood, ...

. Over ten starts with the Lookouts, he went 2–1 with a 1.84 ERA and 68 strikeouts over 44 innings. In early August, he was promoted to the

Louisville Bats The Louisville Bats are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are named in dual reference to the bat, wi ...

of the Triple-A East. He was placed back on the injured list in late August with a shoulder strain, and missed the remainder of the season. Over three starts with Louisville, Lodolo went 0-1 and gave up four earned runs and two walks while striking out ten over innings. On April 13, 2022, the Reds selected Lodolo's contract and promoted him to the major leagues. He made his MLB debut that day as the starting pitcher versus the

Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. Since , the team has played its home gam ...

. Over four innings, he allowed five earned runs on seven hits (two home runs), three walks, and four strikeouts, taking the loss as the Reds fell 7–3. After three starts, he was placed on the injured list with a back strain. In 2022 he was 4–7 with a 3.66 ERA in 103 innings, and led the majors in hit batsmen, with 19. To begin the 2023 season, Lodolo made 7 starts for the Reds, struggling to a 6.29 ERA with 47 strikeouts in innings pitched. On May 13, Lodolo was scratched from a scheduled start against the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League East, East Division. The ...

with what was described as a lingering ankle/calf injury. An

MRI Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to generate pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes inside the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and rad ...

of his left leg revealed a stress reaction in his

tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...

, and he was placed on the 60-day injured list on June 3. On August 31, it was announced that Lodolo would miss the remainder of the season.

References

External links

TCU Horned Frogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lodolo, Nick 1998 births Living people Arizona Complex League Reds players Baseball players from Los Angeles County, California Billings Mustangs players Chattanooga Lookouts players Cincinnati Reds players Damien High School alumni Dayton Dragons players Louisville Bats players Major League Baseball pitchers Sportspeople from La Verne, California TCU Horned Frogs baseball players