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Tyler Mahle was 23 years outdated and had 20 massive league innings underneath his belt when our 2018 Cincinnati Reds Prime Prospects checklist was revealed in January of that yr. A seventh-round select of an Orange County highschool 5 years earlier, Mahle was ranked fourth within the system, with Eric Longenhagen assigning him a 50 FV.
Mahle has gone on to have an injury-marred profession. Most notably, he underwent Tommy John surgical procedure in Might 2023, lower than a yr after he’d been dealt from the Reds to the Minnesota Twins in alternate for Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Spencer Steerand Steve Hajjar on the commerce deadline.
When wholesome, the 30-year-old right-hander has been a top quality pitcher most of the time. In 2021, he made 33 begins for Cincinnati and went 13-6 with a 3.75 ERA and a 3.80 FIP over 180 innings. Furthermore, Mahle was on observe for a fair higher season when he went on the shelf seven weeks in the past with what has since been recognized without any consideration rotator cuff pressure. In 14 begins comprising 77 innings with the Texas Rangers, Mahle had a document of 6-3 to go along with a 2.34 ERA and a 3.37 FIP. His standing for the rest of the present marketing campaign is unclear.
What did Mahle’s 2018 FanGraphs scouting report seem like? Furthermore, what does he give it some thought all these years later? Earlier than he went on the injured checklist, I shared a few of what Eric wrote and requested Mahle to answer it.
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“After 24 hyper-efficient begins at Double and Triple-A, Mahle lastly acquired a four-start cup of espresso in Cincinnati on the finish of the season. His capacity to find was not on show within the massive leagues, however it’s what acquired Mahle there.”
“Not nice,” Mahle mentioned of his 4 begins in 2017. “I used to be wild. My first two or three begins, I’d thrown one thing like 50 pitches by time I acquired by two innings. So yeah, not very environment friendly. However I acquired by it. Then I acquired off to a good begin the following yr, in 2018, however pitched type of damage towards the tip of that season.”
“He has above-average fastball command regardless of a considerably noisy supply; it ought to tighten one other half-grade as Mahle hits his peak.”
“Hmm… yeah, my supply again then was tremendous stiff,” he mentioned. “I held my glove up excessive and it stayed there till I broke my palms. Trying again, my supply was, once more, tremendous stiff. Quite a bit has modified there.
“Actually, I don’t keep in mind precisely,” Mahle mentioned when requested when he made the adjustment. “It should have been with (Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson). We type of took away some motion within the palms. As a substitute of going from up excessive to down low, we began going from the belt to make it just a little less complicated.”
“His stuff is middling, spearheaded by a barely above-average fastball/slider mixture out of which Mahle squeezes each ounce of juice as a consequence of his capacity to find.”
“I used to be pitching with just about all fastballs at the moment,” the righty recalled. “My slider was tremendous inconsistent. I didn’t have a splitter like I’ve now. I mainly simply relied on the fastball.”
“He provides and subtracts from his fastball, exhibiting velocities anyplace from 88 to 95, touching 96 usually, and maxing out at 98.”
“Yeah, however not a lot anymore,” Mahle admitted. “I type of dwell low 90s now and can high round 95. However relying a lot on my fastball again then, I needed to attempt to overpower guys with it. I needed to attempt to throw it arduous.”
“Whereas Mahle’s change doesn’t have terrific motion, his capacity to govern pitch velocity with out noticeable arm deceleration helps make it a viable third providing.”
“Yep. I imply, that was me,” Mahle mentioned. “I didn’t have a lot of a changeup, so I needed to attempt to place it within the zone, or wherever I used to be making an attempt to get it. Like my slider, it was simply tremendous inconsistent. The arm velocity… I truly really feel like I in all probability did have to vary it, primarily based on what I used to be throwing. I perhaps telegraphed so much again then. Now I can throw every part with just about the identical arm velocity.”
“His stuff isn’t overwhelming, however his command ought to permit him to outlive as a mean massive league starter.”
“That’s how I’ve gotten by,” the nine-year veteran acknowledged. “My command, nonetheless now… like, my fastball isn’t an overwhelming pitch velo-wise, however I find it. I additionally get some good trip on it. Again then, I didn’t know that. I simply knew that it did effectively up within the zone. However yeah, I type of lived off the placement of my pitches.
“I perceive every part much more now,” Mahle added. “I do know why it really works effectively up within the zone, and what the separation is on every pitch, and why they’re doing what they’re doing. In comparison with now, again then I used to be just about simply throwing.”
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Earlier “Outdated Scouting Reviews Revisited” interviews may be discovered by these hyperlinks: Shane Baz, Cody Bellinger, Matthew Boyd, Dylan Stop, Matt Chapman, Erick Fedde, Kyle Freeland, Max Fried, Lucas Giolito, Randal Grichuk, Ian Happ, Jeff Hoffman, Tanner Houck, Matthew Liberatore, Sean Newcomb, Bailey Ober, Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Joe Ryan, Max Scherzer, Marcus Semien.
