4 former Reds players we'll be glad are gone, and 1 we'll wish stayed

Reds fans are glad that former RHP Tyler Mahle is gone.

This one may be a bit surprising, but wait just a minute for jumping to criticism. Tyler Mahle was a fine pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds for several years. The right-hander put up very nice numbers during Cincinnati's 2021 season, recording 220 punch outs that season.

But Mahle just never took that next step in his maturation process. It's almost as if he peaked in 2021. Then, the Reds foolishly leaned on him to be the team's No. 2 starter in 2022. Because of an early-season injury to Luis Castillo, Mahle was actually Cincinnati's Opening Day starter last season.

Mahle would constantly nibble at the plate. He was rarely if ever able to harness an aggressive mentality at the plate. The former seventh-round pick would routinely get ahead of batters and inexcusably lose them to walk later in the at-bat.

It was talked about last week when speaking about Hunter Greene's inefficient outing on Opening Day; that was Tyler Mahle in almost every single start. Cincinnati, seeing the value in trading a quality starter at last year's deadline, was able to deal Mahle to the Minnesota Twins.

Mahle is a solid No. 4 or No. 5 starter, but he was never going to be more than that. In return for Mahle's services, the Cincinnati Reds were able to acquire Christian Encarncacion-Strand and Spencer Steer. Both appear to figure prominently into Cincinnati's long-term plans.