A pair of Reds starters are slightly behind in the early portion of camp. The Reds revealed last week that rookie right-hander was delayed in January by minor elbow sorene s that arose during his offseason work ( by Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer). Meanwhile, lefty tells that he has taken things slowly after his 24 season was cut short by a shoulder strain. While any kind of elbow/shoulder sorene s for a pitcher raises some alarm, the Reds dont seem especially concerned by either injury. Lowder began Bayern Munich Jersey a throwing program this morning ( Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer). Abbott has thrown a couple bullpen se sions in the lead-up to Spring Training. He tells Sheldon that hes likely to throw another bullpen se sion or two before facing hitters in a simulated game or batting practice. The southpaw indicated that he still believes hes on track for Opening Day. Terry Francona was le s committal, largely out of an abundance of caution. I dont even think about that just because I think thats where you make mistakes, when you put an artificial deadline , Cincinnatis manager told Sheldon. Were going to do whats right for every player. If somebody isnt ready, whether its him or somebody else, well figure out a way to make it work until theyre ready . If healthy, Lowder and Abbott will vie for roles at the back of Franconas starting staff. will be at the top of the rotation. Trade pickup is locked into a spot. has the flexibility to move between starting and long relief, though he seems likely to begin the year in the rotation after accepting a $21.05MM qualifying offer. Thatd leave two jobs for the group comprising Lowder, Abbott, and perhaps or . The latter two could find themselves in the bullpen. Lowder, the seventh overall pick in 2023, made a case for a rotation spot late last season. Cincinnati called him up in August. He took the ball six times and turned in a 1.17 earned run average acro s 30 2/3 innings. His strikeout and walk profile was nowhere near as impre sive as the ERA, but thats not especially surprising for a 22-year-old attacking MLB hitters for the first time. Lowder had excellent peripherals acro s 22 starts for Triple-A Louisville, where he turned in 3.64 ERA through 108 2/3 frames. He fanned more than a quarter of opponents against a 5.4% walk rate while getting ground-balls at a strong 51.7% clip. Abbott has posted a 3.78 ERA in 46 starts over the last two seasons. While he put up a sub-4.00 ERA in each year, his underlying marks went in the wrong direction last season. Abbotts strikeout rate fell by nearly seven points from his strong 26.1% mark as a rookie. He mi sed fewer bats on a per-pitch basis and became more susceptible to the home run ball. The Virginia product landed on the IL with the shoulder injury in the middle of August. Athletic Bilbao Jersey