Starting pitcher Tyler Mahle has thrived since joining Braves at trade deadline

What a welcome addition Tyler Mahle has been.

A right-handed starting pitcher acquired by the Braves from the Giants ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline, Mahle has been exceptional for his new team across four starts. In his latest performance, in Sunday’s MLB Little League Classic at Bowman Field in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Mahle allowed a single run in five hard-fought innings pitching against the National League-best Brewers.

In four starts with his new team, Mahle is now 2-1 with a 1.52 ERA. He insisted Sunday he’s not trying too hard to impress for his new squad each time out, but impressive he has been.

“Maybe, like, the first start, it felt like that, you know?” Mahle said of trying to prove his worth as a trade acquisition. “But no, I’m just here trying to do my job now, and trying to win ballgames.”

In the 23.2 innings Mahle has pitched for the Braves, he has allowed four runs — and two of those came last Tuesday when pitching against the Twins in Minneapolis. He has walked just five batters and struck out 23 while averaging a little less than 89 pitches per start.

Atlanta’s starting pitching has been solid all season — it enters this week seventh in baseball and third in the NL with a 3.72 ERA among its starters. The addition of Mahle has not only helped continue that success rate but will give the NL East-leading Braves that much more depth in the postseason.

The team is already working with six starting pitchers as August winds to a close, and a seventh, Reynaldo López, started a rehab assignment at Triple-A Gwinnett on Sunday. But it’s safe to figure at this juncture that Mahle has positioned himself to start a postseason game.

“He’s a competitor. He goes out there and he gives us the best he can every single time he’s out there,” Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies said. “Like, (Sunday) you see it. He was aggressive. I love the way he attacks the zone, and you know it’s going to be special with a guy like that on the team. He’s fitting right in with us, he’s getting more comfortable, so it’s going to be great.”

In 18 games with the Giants this season, Mahle was 3-9 with a 5.14 ERA. The Braves believed those numbers weren’t indicative of the type of pitcher he was, or could be, and so far they are proving to be correct in their scouting.

Mahle has almost exclusively used his four-seam fastball, split-finger and cutter with the Braves while ditching his slider and sinker. The simplified pitch selection and usage has produced results.

He said Sunday that he hasn’t really made any major adjustments to how he has pitched with the Braves compared with his four months prior with the Giants. Yet clearly the Braves have given him a shot in the arm, and he them.

“Nothing special. I’m trying to pump strikes, and work with Murph (catcher Sean Murphy), and that’s been going great,” Mahle said of how his time with Atlanta has differed from that in San Francisco. “And then trust in the defense because (in) big innings, big situations, they’ve been there every time. They’ve been doing a great job.”

Mahle’s next start, his fifth with the Braves, will be this weekend at Truist Park against the Rockies. And now part of a pennant race, each time Mahle takes the ball the stakes will only become that much higher.