Cincinnati Reds pitching prospect Hunter Greene was named to the team's Opening Day rotation on Wednesday, but fellow prospect Nick Lodolo is a candidate to start the sixth game of the regular season. Injuries to Luis Castillo (shoulder) and Mike Minor (shoulder) have opened up opportunity at the back end of Cincinnati's rotation to begin the season. The Reds are going with a four-man rotation to begin the year, but Lodolo looks like a logical choice for the fifth spot once the team needs it. The young left-hander may not stick in the rotation for long, depending on when Castillo and Minor are ready to make their season debuts, but Lodolo's dominance in the minors and top-prospect status should at least make him interesting in DFS and deep mixed leagues to begin the season.

With Cincinnati Reds right-hander Tony Santillan now in the bullpen, there's a much better shot that pitching prospects Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo open the year in the team's starting rotation with Luis Castillo (shoulder) and Mike Minor (shoulder) set to begin the year on the injured list. Greene and Lodolo are the team's top two prospects, respectively. Greene, a 22-year-old righty, is extremely enticing in fantasy due to his power repertoire and improved changeup. If his offspeed proves effective in the majors, Greene's elite fastball could keep him in the rotation all year. Lodolo, a 24-year-old southpaw, can locate all of his pitches for strikes and should combine with Greene to form a dynamic duo at the top of the Reds rotation down the line.

Cincinnati Reds farm director Shawn Pender said that left-handed pitcher Nick Lodolo (finger, shoulder) is feeling good, and the team thinks they have figured out his blister issues and shoulder fatigue, which Lodolo took the blame for. MLB Pipeline ranked Lodolo as the No. 31 overall prospect at the end of the 2021 season. The 24-year-old former first-round pick in the 2019 draft had a 2.31 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 78 strikeouts and 11 walks in 50 2/3 innings over 13 starts for Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Louisville last season. Lodolo was the first pitcher off the board in the 2019 draft (seventh overall) and was an advanced college arm with three above-average pitches. He has a very high ceiling as a starter at the next level and could potentially debut for the Reds in 2021 if he can stay healthy.

Cincinnati Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo will skip his next start at Triple-A Louisville due to left shoulder fatigue. Lodolo is widely regarded as one of the top pitching prospects in the Cincinnati organization. He posted a 1.84 ERA over 10 starts in Double-A this season, although he's struggled since being promoted to Triple-A, allowing four runs across 5 1/3 innings of work spanning two starts. The team has yet to comment on how long Lodolo will be sidelined with the shoulder fatigue issue. There had been some hope that Lodolo would get a chance to pitch in the big leagues before the end of the season but this may throw a monkey wrench in those plans, depending on the severity of the injury.