In 2017 the Cincinnati Reds saw starting pitchers miss nearly as many starts because of injuries as their were starts last season. The good news is that it allowed prospects to get experience. That bad news is that few starters have a reputation as reliable.
The most important thing that came out of 2017 was the discovery of Luis Castillo. He made 29 combined starts between the majors and the minors with a combined ERA of under 3.00. He is in the running for the Opening Day start.
The next most impressive thing that came out of 2017 was the debut of Tyler Mahle.