Reds call up Kyle Nicolas ahead of series opener vs. Angels

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MIAMI, FLORIDA - MARCH 16: <a class= — MIAMI, FLORIDA - MARCH 16: Kyle Nicolas #19 of Team Italy pitches in the eighth inning during the 2026 World Baseball Classic Semifinals between Italy and Venezuela at loanDepot park on March 16, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Gene Wang - Capture At Media/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Wick Terrell

Fri, Apr 10, 2026 ·

2 min read

Jose Franco played the role of long man in the Cincinnati Reds bullpen through the first two weeks of the 2026 season. He’s a starter by trade – and a promising one, at that – but manager Terry Francona needed to lean on him in that role given the banged-up nature of the rest of his pitching staff at the moment.

Franco mopped up Thursday’s 8-1 loss to the Miami Marlins in the series finale in south Florida, throwing 43 pitches to get through 2.0 IP. It was his second multi-inning outing of the week, and the gassed Reds bullpen simply needed another fresh arm. So, it was unsurprising to see Franco optioned back to AAA Louisville on Friday as the team brought up righty Kyle Nicolas to take his spot on the roster.

MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon relayed the news on Bluesky.

Nicolas came to the Reds in exchange for Tyler Callihan during spring training, though he was away with Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic at the time. So, it took a bit of time for the Reds to fully understand exactly what they had in him, and he began the year with AAA Louisville to get his feet wet within the new organization despite having appeared in 82 games at the big league level across the previous two seasons.

Nicolas allowed an earned run in his first appearance of the season with the Bats back on March 31st but has since fired 3.1 IP of scoreless ball with just a lone hit and a 6/2 K/BB. His high velocity stuff will play just about anywhere in the Cincinnati bullpen, though it would certainly appear now that they’re going to operate without a ‘long man’ until Nick Lodolo returns from his blister issue and someone gets bumped back from the rotation.

Cincinnati begins a weekend series (and 6-game homestand) on Friday night at Great American Ball Park, and they’ll do so with Chase Burns on the mound and the Los Angeles Angels in town. First pitch in that one is set for 6:45 PM ET as the game is being broadcast by Apple TV. Here’s how the Reds are going to line up for the opener:

And yes, it appears they’re going to wear their awful city connect uniforms once again.