Reds provide update on Rhett Lowder’s status

Published 10:09 am Tuesday, July 29, 2025

ALBEMARLE — The Cincinnati Reds are hoping that pitching prospect and former North Stanly ace Rhett Lowder will be available to play in the MLB’s developmental Arizona Fall League in October.

Casting doubts at the 23-year-old right-hander’s chances of returning for the current MLB season, Reds manager Terry Francona told team media members on Monday that Lowder still has a long road ahead of him as he recovers from a right forearm strain and a left oblique strain.

“He’s been doing his rotational stuff and he’s going to start throwing this week,” Francona said of the Albemarle native, who has finally been cleared to start playing catch. “He’s going to have a pretty big buildup.”

The manager indicated that he would rather save Lowder for the 2026 season than rush him back too early in his injury recovery process.

“It’s one of the things we don’t want to do. Even if he doesn’t pitch for us, we want him to prepare, because, one, maybe he pitches for us, but, two, if he doesn’t and goes home, he can have a semi-normal winter.”

Cincinnati placed Lowder — the team’s No. 2 prospect and seventh overall selection in the 2023 MLB draft — on the 60-day injured list back on June 4 after he suffered a severe oblique injury during a May 22 rehab appearance at Triple-A Louisville.

While he had a strong six-start debut (1.17 ERA) last year in his first big-league appearances with the Reds, he has now been on the team’s injured list since the start of the 2025 season with a right forearm strain.

It was originally reported in February that Lowder had been handled with caution in Spring Training due to a right elbow injury and wouldn’t be available for the Reds’ rotation by Opening Day; he was making his rehabilitation process through the minor leagues before his secondary injury occurred in May.

The former Wake Forest star reported to the Reds’ complex in Goodyear, Arizona, on June 11 to begin the rehab program that he is currently in the process of climbing through.

The next few months will determine if he can play in the Arizona Fall League, which runs for about six weeks from October to mid-November each year and features top prospects from all 30 MLB organizations.

Since 1992, the league has given the MLB’s top prospects extra playing time against strong competition after the regular minor league season ends.