Tyler Mahle Keeps Giving the Braves Reason to Trust Their Deadline Decision

The Atlanta Braves spent much of Sunday afternoon asking Tyler Mahle to clean up a mess he didn’t create. By the time the first inning ended, an error had put Philadelphia in position to score twice, with runners on second and third and nobody out.

Mahle never let the inning become something larger.

Mahle’s afternoon could have unraveled in the first inning. An error put runners on second and third with nobody out, and both came around to score. Although both runs were unearned, the situation still left Atlanta playing from behind before the game had settled in.

He handled the rest of it well.

The right-hander kept Philadelphia off the board over the next five innings, allowing only four hits and one walk while striking out three. The Braves eventually rallied for a 5-4 victory, but Mahle’s ability to limit the damage early gave them a chance to stay close until the offense found its opening.

That was the kind of response Atlanta hoped to get when it acquired him at the trade deadline, even if the move was not immediately easy to explain.

Mahle had a 5.13 ERA when the Braves made the deal. Considering Atlanta had enough prospect capital to pursue a more recognizable rotation upgrade, the acquisition did not initially look like the move that would change the shape of the staff. The Braves saw something beyond the ERA, though. They believed Mahle had begun making the adjustments that could lead to better results.

His recent outings have provided a clearer picture of what they saw.

Mahle threw 94 pitches Sunday and produced 12 swings and misses. The overall line was steady, but the most encouraging part came after the first-inning mistake. Philadelphia had an opportunity to turn the early advantage into a larger one, and Mahle never let that happen. He kept working through the lineup, held the Phillies scoreless the rest of the way and left the door open for Atlanta’s late comeback.

That is the kind of start the Braves were hoping to get when they decided there was more to Mahle than his ERA suggested.

The Athletic’s Jesus Cano reported that Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos believed Mahle still had room to improve after the trade. Atlanta also saw a pitcher who had moved away from the approach that had worked best for him.

Braves pitching coach Jeremy Hefner told Cano that Mahle had added pitches in San Francisco, but that the expanded mix had not produced the desired results. After returning from his hamstring injury, Mahle went back to relying primarily on his four-seam fastball, cutter and splitter.

Mahle described the change himself.

“I’ve been sticking with what’s working,” Mahle told Cano. “Early in the season, I was getting punished on my third- and fourth-best pitches. We’re just picking our spots to throw those.”

Sunday’s outing fit that description. Mahle did not need to dominate from the first pitch after the Phillies moved ahead. He needed to prevent the damage from spreading, and he did that by retiring Philadelphia for five straight scoreless innings.

The Braves’ offense eventually supplied the comeback, with Ronald Acuña Jr. tying the game in the eighth inning and Austin Riley putting Atlanta ahead with a ninth-inning triple. Mahle did not receive a decision, but his role in the win was clear.

With Atlanta's magic number to clinch the NL East falling to 14, the countdown is on with three more matchups against the Phillies this week that could drop that even further.