Cincinnati Reds: Sal Romano and Tyler Mahle show their stuff vs Royals

The Cincinnati Reds are on a three-game winning streak, and a lot of credit needs to be given to the starting pitching over the last two games.

The Cincinnati Reds, having knocked off the Cardinals on Sunday and taking the two-game series from the Royals, are on a three-game winning streak. The starting pitching, especially over the past two games, has been key to the Reds success during the winning streak.

Sal Romano and Tyler Mahle have each started 14 games this season. The two young right handers are being given a great opportunity this season. The Reds are still rebuilding, and are looking for some young arms to assert themselves in the rotation and possibly be a big part of the future in Cincinnati.

Sal Romano

Romano closed his rookie year with a 7-9 record and a 4.45 ERA while starting 16 games. He started this season a little shaky, posting a 6.46 ERA through his first three games of 2018.

However, the following five games showed exactly what the Reds were hoping to see from Romano. From April 17th through May 9th, in his 5 starts, Romano pitched 27 innings, recorded 19 strikeouts and had an ERA of 2.33. Opposing hitters were only hitting .212 with .275 OBP.

Then Romano hit another rough patch. Before Tuesday’s starter against Kansas City, Romano’s last five games took his ERA from a respectable 3.83 to an unacceptable 6.23. During those 5 games, he had a 10.72 ERA and opposing hitters were slashing .343/.417/.637.

Well, against the Royals, Romano brought his A-game. While he only had 2 strikeouts in the outing, Romano lasted 8 innings and allowed only 1 run on 4 hits. The eight innings pitched are a career-high for Romano. The only downfall to Tuesday’s performance was that Romano did not get the win.

Tyler Mahle

While still technically a rookie, Tyler Mahle did play in a couple games at the tail end of last season. In 4 games in 2017, Mahle pitched 20 innings, allowed 19 hits and only 6 runs. He struck out 14 batters and did not allow a home run.

Mahle, like Romano, has had a bit of an up and down season. He helped Cincinnati shut out the Cubs in his first game of the season while fanning seven. But, in the following 5 starts, Mahle allowed 16 runs on 32 hits, including 7 home runs.

Mahle went 6.1 innings on Wednesday in Kansas City, tying his longest outing of the season. During the shut out, Mahle only struck out one, but also allowed only three hits. The Reds went on to win 7-0

The Cincinnati Reds are 15th in the Majors in run support, and have scored enough to be competitive lately. But, their starting pitching has repeatedly let them down. With the starting pitchers combining for a 5.42 ERA, it’s a wonder the Reds have even won 25 games.

If the hitting continues, and Romano, Mahle and the other starters are able to begin putting together solid back-to-back outings, there may yet be hope for this young Reds team to be more competitive.