Cincinnati Reds prospect Tyler Mahle makes his case

After a strong debut for the Cincinnati Reds, Tyler Mahle comes to spring training looking for a spot in the rotation.

Unlike many of the Cincinnati Reds pitching prospects, Tyler Mahle has consistently won games in his professional career.  2013 is the only season that Mahle finished below .500, when he was in rookie ball. Last season he was only two games above the mark, but his strong start at Double-A kept him above .500.

With the Reds in 2017 Mahle made four starts because of all the injuries to the big league staff.  In twenty innings, he allowed nineteen hits and walked eleven.  That resulted in a WHIP of 1.50.

Despite a high WHIP, Mahle collected an ERA of 2.70. He also struck out a respectable fourteen batters.  He was also able to avoid the long ball.

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Over each of the past three seasons Mahle has pitched about 150 innings.  He has also started 27 games on average. His home run rate has been inconsistent, but lower than more of his contemporaries.

This spring Tyler Mahle is trying to his earn his way onto the Cincinnati Reds rotation.

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Mahle has allowed an impressively low batting average against of .190.  That has helped him keep his WHIP at the equally impressive 0.90. The other thing that helped is that he has only allowed 2 walks in 6 ⅔ innings.

Despite averaging over two innings per appearance this spring, Mahle does not look to be in the running for a spot in Cincinnati to start the season.  He has made all three of his appearances in relief.

Mahle has not allowed a home run, but he has allowed four runs on just four hits.  Only three of those runs were earned. That all comes together to an ERA of 4.05.

Over the course of his minor league career Mahle tends to average six innings per start.  He has bounced back and forth between averaging five and six innings per start. That is strong than most of the Reds starting prospects.

Unlike most top pitching prospects, Mahle doesn’t strike a ton of batters out. He averages close to eight per nine innings.  Early last year in Double-A is the only stop where Mahle averaged more than a strikeout per inning.

Next: Reds sign Oliver Perez

Mahle faces an uphill struggle to make the rotation out of spring training.  He gained invaluable experience last season with the Reds. Now he just has to get ready for whenever he next chance arrives.