It’s hard to imagine a better season debut than what the Cincinnati Reds got from Tyler Mahle on Thursday, especially when you consider he only really made the Opening Day roster due to Alex Wood having a balky back.
Mahle was in control from the get-go, and eventually fired 6 innings of scoreless ball, scattering 5 hits, issuing zero walks, and striking out 5 Pittsburgh Pirates on the night. He only needed 78 pitches to do it, too, and likely would’ve stayed in the game for another inning (at least) had the Reds not opted to use a pinch-hitter in the Top of the 7th in one of the very, very few scoring opportunities the game had seen to that point.