Cincinnati Reds rule out 2024 return of LHP Nick Lodolo from latest injury

Cincinnati Reds starter Nick Lodolo , who returned from a nearly year-long leg injury to pitch like an All-Star candidate the first half of the season, will miss the season's final five weeks after Manager David Bell ruled out Lodolo's return from a middle-finger sprain on Tuesday.

"We need to make sure that finger is healed, so it's not a surgery situation," Bell said.

The news came on the same day ace Hunter Greene threw a three-inning simulation (52 pitches) to put him on track for a likely return from elbow soreness Sunday.

Left-hander Andrew Abbott (shoulder strain) threw a bullpen session Tuesday instead of a more vigorous live BP/sim game and appears less likely to return for a start in the final two weeks of the season than he did last week, although Bell said Tuesday, "There is a chance."

Lodolo, who hasn't pitched since Aug. 22 in Pittsburgh, finished the season with 21 starts after missing almost all of last season with a leg injury that sidelined him until two weeks into this season.

He also missed two weeks in May because of a groin strain and two weeks about a month later because of a blister.

He finished 9-6 with a 4.76 ERA after opening the season looking dominant in his first 11 starts (8-2, 2.76 ERA).

The left-hander's 21 starts and 115 1/3 innings in his third season are career highs.

Abbott, who debuted in June last season, is 10-10 with a 3.72 ERA in 25 starts this year. He last pitched on Aug. 18 against the Kansas City Royals, a start that included returning from a 45-minute rain delay for the final three of five innings pitched that day.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds rule out 2024 return of LHP Nick Lodolo from latest injury