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

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the Cincinnati Reds of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(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. The school had its first graduating class in 1963. Each of Damien's freshmen classes draws from an avera ...

La Verne, California La Verne is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 31,063 at the 2010 census, down from 31,638 at the 2000 census. History The European history of the area dates back to the 1830s when Ygnacio Palomare ...

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

. As a senior, he had a 8–2

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of matc ...

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 Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

83 batters in 65 innings pitched. After his senior year, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected Lodolo with the 41st overall pick in the

2016 Major League Baseball draft The 2016 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player 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 will be di ...

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

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciple ...

(TCU) and play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

for the

TCU Horned Frogs The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competing mostly in the Big 12 Conference. The sc ...

. 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 The 2019 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 3 to 5, 2019. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2018 MLB season standings. In additi ...

. He was selected by the Cincinnati Reds 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 Dehler ...

of the Rookie Advanced 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, formerly known as Fifth Third Field. I ...

of the

Single-A Class A, also known as Single-A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A, Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams classified at the Single-A level, one for each ...

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, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. 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 located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team plays its home g ...

of the

Double-A South AA, Aa, Double A, or Double-A may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''America's Army'', a 2002 computer game published by the U.S. Army * '' Ancient Anguish'', a computer game in existence since 1992 * Aa!, a J-Pop musical group * Do ...

. 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 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 at

Coors Field Coors Field is a baseball stadium in downtown Denver, Colorado. It is the home field of Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies. Opened in 1995, the park is located in Denver's Lower Downtown neighborhood, two blocks from Union Station. The ...

. 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 of the

Triple-A East The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

. 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 , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

. 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 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 form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves ...

of his left leg revealed a stress reaction in his

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

, 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 American people of Italian descent 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 People from La Verne, California TCU Horned Frogs baseball players