Tyler Mahle gave the Atlanta Braves another solid day en route to a 3-2 walk-off win on Sunday. He pitched 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball on five hits while walking none and striking out nine.
Since arriving to Atlanta, he has a 1.48 ERA with a 0.96 WHIP and 32 strikeouts over 30 1/3 innings pitched.
At the time of the trade that added another arm to the Braves' rotation at the deadline, he wasn't met with much fanfare. Since then, he's proven to be the No. 2 starter in the rotation.
"He's been great," Braves first baseman Matt Olson said. "I think you can tell with a lot of guys when know how to pitch - kind of seeing it more in game that stuff kind of takes precedent and some guys leave the pitching aspect aside and he's got the stuff and he goes out and pitch and be able to put the fastball where he want it to set up everything."
Part of that success has come with a change to his arsenal. Mahle's fastball, Olson highlighted, along with the splitter, has gotten heavy use during his run of success. The fastball leads the way, with the splitter complementing it.
Mahle still shows the cutter at times, but the slider and sinker that he used over in San Francisco have essentially been phased out. While the general wisdom is that it's beneficial for a starter to have a mix of pitches to use to keep hitters on their toes, sometimes rolling with the top pitches gets the job done.
"I've been kind of just sticking with what's working," Mahle said. "I've got - like earlier in the season, I was getting punished with my third and fourth best pitches."
Now, he's very selective where those third and fourth pitches get mixed in. Along with the guidance of Sean Murphy - the catcher being credited by Mahle - behind the dish, he's been able to navigate this approach.
The Braves saw a piece of his game that they liked and were able to help him hone it. The results have made him not just a strong addition to the team but one of the better returns from this season's deadline.
Looking deeper into the metrics, Mahle has seen an uptick in strikes, up to 9.49 strikeouts per nine innings compared to 8.46 with the Giants, and his walk rate has halved, down to 1.48 walks per nine comepared to 3.52 before the move.
Those deeper numbers help show that nothing is a fluke and he is less likely to regress. What Mahle is doing with the two to three pitches he's focusing on have truly been effective.
"So, it's a good three-pitch mix, and commands it well," manager Walt Weiss said. "He can throw all three where he wants."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/braves/onsi as How Tyler Mahle's Adjustments Made Him a Key Braves Deadline Addition .
