Tyler Mahle, bless his soul, blanked the Chicago “Cubs Gonna” Cubs for 6.0 innings this past week, allowing only one pseudo-hit to Javier Baez. It was a masterful performance, with a dollop of drama and a whole heaping serving of legacy-building. There was the Anthony Rizzo hit by pitch, replete with Chris Welsh’s underrated “you don’t actually want to drop that breaking ball on the back foot” joke. There were the strikeouts — lucky number seven of ’em — with Mahle leaving four different Cubs stuck with the bat on their shoulder and their hat in their hands. And then there was the poise, of which battery mate Tucker Barhart could only say, “It’s special, it’s something you can’t teach.
Tyler Mahle will be the Next Reds Ace
