The right-hander's eagerness to return to the mound cost him a year of his career; the Reds made sure that wouldn't be the case this time around.
The Cincinnati Reds may not have needed much convincing that Rhett Lowder was ready for his next step. Wednesday's simulated game at Citi Field proved that their fast action may have prevented a more severe injury.
After throwing 45 pitches over three simulated innings, Lowder said the ball was coming out well and that his velocity was actually better than what he had seen for much of the season, according to Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. Assuming his shoulder responds well over the next couple of days, the right-hander is expected to make a rehab start of around 70 pitches for Triple-A Louisville next Tuesday.
Considering where things stood earlier this month, that timeline feels surprisingly quick.
When Lowder exited his May 7 start against the Chicago Cubs with shoulder discomfort and a clicking sensation, the Reds could have easily found themselves facing a much longer absence. Instead, medical testing revealed no structural damage, and Cincinnati immediately shifted its focus toward addressing the underlying issue rather than allowing Lowder to pitch through it.
"We're trying not to put a band-aid on something," said Reds' manager Terry Francona via Mike Petraglia of CNLS Cincy. "We want this kid to be able to pitch and pitch for a long time and not get interrupted."
That approach may have been especially important given Lowder's recent injury history. When on a rehab assignment from his initial elbow injury last May, Lowder developed some discomfort in his oblique and chose to look past it. That would come back to haunt him as it became a severe strain that ended his season.
As Lowder struggled with his command at Wrigley Field, Francona and athletic trainer Sean McQueeney made the decision to pull him from the game before the shoulder issue could worsen.
According to Petraglia, Lowder said the problem was eventually narrowed down to tightness, strength imbalance and muscle imbalance within the shoulder. Rather than rebuilding from scratch after an extended shutdown, the Reds concentrated on what Lowder described as "hyper-specific work" designed to strengthen those areas and prevent the issue from becoming something more serious.
The result is a pitcher who missed very little actual throwing time.
Francona told reporters Wednesday that Lowder's recovery has moved quickly in part because he barely stopped throwing. According to Petraglia, Lowder was only shut down for a couple of days while the Reds focused on improving his range of motion, activating the proper muscles and "retraining" the shoulder.
A few weeks later, Lowder is already preparing for game action again.
If his rehab start next week goes as planned, the Reds may look back on that decision as the reason this injury remained a brief interruption rather than a much bigger setback.
