Game 23: Reds at Brewers (7:40 PM ET) - Mahle vs. Woodruff

If you look around the world of the Cincinnati Reds, [/gestures wildly at everything] will look like a complete disaster. And, well, it pretty much is.

All that aside, the Reds could really use a big turnaround from Tyler Mahle. Yes, he’s been bitten so far by inherited runs coming in to score, but the fact remains that he’s allowed 16 ER in 22.1 IP so far this season, his 1.66 WHIP about as ugly as it gets. This, of course, on the heels of his excellent 5.1 bWAR season just last year.

There’s no way in hell a Mahle turnaround is going to rescue the 2022 Reds season, or anything, but him getting right would at least give the Reds a good trade chip for this July or later in the winter, something that is just about the only thing to look forward to with this frugal ownership group and the shape of the evolving roster. So, it would be tremendous to get a great outing by him tonight in the Reds series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Of course, the Reds will have to fight their way through the arsenal of Brandon Woodruff to put enough runs on the board to take home a victory, something that seems impossible given [/gestures wildly at everything once again]. Tyler Stephenson is mercifully back, which is good, but he only replaces Joey Votto, who hit the COVID-IL today.

Catching a break simply isn’t in the cards for this season. The least we can hope for at this point is for the players we know are actually decent to, y’know, put up some decent results again.

First pitch tonight is set for 7:40 PM ET. Dear god, do something well, Reds.

Reds Lineup

Beers Lineup