Tyler

Mahle

Mahle isn’t expected to pitch until the halfway point of the regular season after he underwent Tommy John surgery last May. When he’s back, fantasy managers could see him as a solid addition to lineups given he has a solid 4.30 ERA, 1.30 WHIP in the majors since the 2017 season.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan adds that the deal also includes $5 million in performance bonuses for 2025. Mahle is expected to miss at least the first half of the upcoming 2024 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery back in late May. However, it’s a savvy move by the Rangers as he should be ready to contribute sometime around midseason as a mid-rotation stabilizer. The 29-year-old righty holds a solid 4.30 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 677/231 K/BB ratio across 635 2/3 innings (123 appearances, 122 starts) in the big leagues dating back to 2017. He’ll be worth stashing in the early stages of next season in deeper mixed leagues.

The right-hander is set to miss the remainder of the 2023 campaign -- and will miss the first few months of the 2024 season as well while recovering from the procedure. The 28-year-old hurler is set to hit free agency following this season.

Awful news for Mahle, who went down with a right arm posterior impingement and flexor pronator strain at the start of the month. The 28-year-old was off to a strong start for the Twins this season, posting a 3.16 ERA over his first five turns, but now he’ll be in rehab mode through the early part of the 2024 campaign. He’s also slated to be a free agent this winter, so the timing couldn’t be worse for him.

Nothing has really changed in his diagnosis -- he’s dealing with a right arm posterior impingement and a flexor pronator strain -- but this will mean that he’s sidelined for longer than originally anticipated. That should give extra runway for Louie Varland and Bailey Ober to establish themselves in the Twins’ rotation.

As well as a flexor pronator strain, but we didn’t want to fill up the entire transactions page with just Mahle’s injuries. A return in late June might be a possibility here, but it seems more likely that the Twins will try to get him ready for the start of the second half of the season. In the meantime, Louie Varland will fill in and see if maybe he can overtake Bailey Ober in the rotation pecking order before Kenta Maeda returns.

While it doesn’t sound good, the Twins are hopeful that he’ll be able to start building back up after sitting for four weeks. He’ll be checked out again at the end of May. In the meantime, that should leave plenty of runway for Bailey Ober to thrive in the Twins’ rotation.

Baldelli also said that team doctors will review the results, and the team will have a more detailed update soon. Mahle was pulled from his start on Thursday after four innings of one-hit ball. He was diagnosed with a right elbow impingement. Stay tuned.

Mahle was pulled from his start against the Royals on Thursday after four innings of one-run ball. The Twins didn’t send him for imaging yet, which has to be taken as a good sign. He’ll go on anti-inflammatories for now and the Twins will make a decision on his status in the next couple of days. Louie Varland could step in if Mahle needs to miss his next start or requires a trip to the injured list.

Mahle was lifted the Twins leading by a touchdown after throwing just 66 pitches over four innings of one-run ball. It’s worth noting that his fastball velocity dipped in his final inning of work, which likely led to his departure. He finished with six strikeouts and didn’t hand out a free pass. He’s presumably headed for some additional testing to determine the extent of the injury and whether he’ll make his next start on Wednesday against the White Sox.