Tyler Mahle made his first official game appearance for the Rangers organization tonight. Texas assigned the offseason signee to Triple-A Round Rock to start a rehab assignment. In his first outing since undergoing Tommy John surgery last May, Mahle pitched two scoreless innings on 19 pitches.

Texas signed the right-hander to a two-year, $22M contract in December. Mahle is earning $5.5M this year and is set to receive $16.5M next season. The backloaded contract accounted for Mahle missing the first few months of the 2023 season. His recovery has gone well, raising the possibility of him joining the Rangers at Globe Life Field shortly after the July 30 trade deadline.

Mahle appeared to be developing into a solid mid-rotation starter in Cincinnati a few seasons ago. Between 2021 and the 2022 trade deadline, he posted a 3.99 ERA over 52 starts, with a 27% strikeout rate and a respectable 8.6% walk rate. Despite pitching in a challenging home environment, he performed well enough to be considered a No. 3 starter. Impressed by his performance, the Twins traded Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Spencer Steer, and Steve Hajjar to the Reds for the final year and a half of Mahle’s arbitration control.

However, this trade turned out to be one of the more regrettable deadline deals in recent history, as injuries plagued Mahle’s time in Minnesota from the outset. Shoulder problems limited him to four starts towards the end of 2022. He started the next season strong, carrying a 3.16 ERA and a 27.5% strikeout rate over five starts, but then his elbow gave out. The subsequent surgery marked a disappointing end to his tenure in Minnesota as he approached free agency.

If Mahle can regain his pre-injury form, he could significantly strengthen the Texas rotation. The Rangers had aimed to stay competitive in the first half of the season before reintegrating Max Scherzer, Mahle, and eventually Jacob deGrom from the injured list. Unfortunately, the team hasn’t performed as expected, remaining seven games below .500 even after tonight’s shutout victory over the Padres. They are currently seven and a half games behind the division-leading Mariners and the final Wild Card spot held by the Royals.

While the defending champions have underperformed, this isn’t solely due to their injury-riddled rotation, which has held up as well as could be expected. The more significant issue has been the lineup, where only Josh Smith has exceeded preseason expectations. Although Corey Seager and Rookie of the Year favorite Wyatt Langford have improved after slow starts, the overall offense has not been sufficient.