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The San Francisco Giants agreed to trade Tyler Mahle to the Atlanta Braves for right-handed reliever Anthony Molina on Sunday, the first deal in what is expected to be a sell-off for the struggling Giants.
Mahle immediately addresses Atlanta’s starting rotation, which has been injury-plagued throughout the season. He will be inserted into the Braves’ starting rotation and is set to debut this weekend in New York against the Yankees, president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos told reporters on a call.
“He’s thrown the ball well since he’s been back from the IL,” Anthopoulos said. “(Throws) strikes and good with the running game as well. … So we think there’s some upside there.”
The 31-year-old has spent several years attempting to replicate his breakout season with the Cincinnati Reds in 2021, when he posted a 3.75 ERA in a league-high 33 starts with 210 strikeouts over 180 innings. Injuries derailed him, and shoulder surgery limited him to two starts in 2024.
The Braves had interest in Mahle after the 2024 season, but ended up signing with the Rangers.
Mahle didn’t have nearly the same stuff with the Rangers last season but got results anyway with a 2.18 ERA in 16 starts before shoulder fatigue caught up with him in the second half. Bruce Bochy, his manager in Texas, rejoined the Giants as a special assistant and recommended him as San Francisco sought to fill out their rotation with short-term contracts.
The Giants’ investments in Mahle and right-hander Adrian Houser, although relatively modest by free-agent pitching standards, haven’t worked out. Mahle, who signed for $10 million, was 1-7 with a 6.04 ERA in 11 starts before landing on the IL with a strained hamstring at the end of May, and the Giants’ season was essentially over by the time he returned.
Mahle has appeared distracted on the mound at times this season and caused a minor stir last month in Arizona when he claimed he didn’t realize he was on a pitch count. But the right-hander has looked more motivated in recent weeks.
It’ll only take a handful of solid starts down the stretch with improved pitch analytics for Mahle to garner interest from another team this winter. And Mahle has looked awfully good over his past three starts, flashing a mid-90s fastball and regaining late life on his splitter while holding opponents to four runs over 18 innings. In a home start last Monday against the Milwaukee Brewers, Mahle faced one more than the minimum over six innings while containing one of the NL’s highest-scoring lineups and used his splitter to induce three double-play grounders.
Molina, 24, has been used in just five innings for the Braves this season with three runs allowed. He has a career 6.89 ERA in 55 major-league appearances. He was primarily pitching depth for Triple-A Gwinnett, where he had a 3.89 ERA in 17 appearances (nine starts). He was claimed off waivers from the Colorado Rockies in December 2025.