Why this Rangers breakout star needs more attention as a Cy Young frontrunner

The Texas Rangers franchise famously does not have a Cy Young winning pitcher. They might have one this year.

Mahle has long been a good pitcher, but this year he is just on another level. From Tommy John surgery to a shoulder injury, Mahle was looking for a big rebound in 2025. It was a big deal for him to come out and show that he belonged in this rotation.

This year, Mahle has posted a 1.47 ERA in 55 innings, a 5-1 win-loss record, with 40 strikeouts to just 18 walks. These are numbers that can judge the Cy Young voting.

It is hard to explain to common fans how impressive Mahle has been. If you watch any game besides the fluke to begin the year against Boston, they will watch somebody in complete control. He has been hitting spots, missing barrels and just letting his defense play ball.

Mahle's makeup doesn't fit the regular Cy Young mold, but does that matter?

Mahle is the type of pitcher that has been popping up across the league recently. The fastball, splitter, slider and cutter combination is everywhere for good reason and they are the best pitches in modern day baseball.

Through 10 starts, only Max Fried of the Yankees and Hunter Brown of the Astros have a lower ERA in the American League. Mahle's BABIP (Batting average on balls in play) is also lower than both at .222 as well which shows the results aren't a fluke.

A key to Mahle's success has been the defense. There is no ignoring that they have been phenomenal this season. Mahle has only struck out 40 batters in 55 innings so he is getting weak contact and producing outs.

Most modern day Cy Young campaigns come with high strikeouts, low ERA and a showcase of electric stuff. While Mahle doesn't exactly fit that mold, that shouldn't restrict his chances from winning the award.

How exactly has Tyler Mahle been able to do it this season?

His exit velocities and hard hit percentage numbers coupled with his incredibly BABIP combine to show that his numbers are sustainable season long. Where the game is telling guys to throw faster, Mahle has refined his spin rates and has been dotting every corner possible.

After rarely throwing the cutter in his injury filled 2023 and 2024 seasons, it has overtaken his slider in frequency. He has thrown 871 pitches this year with 431 fastballs, 247 splitters, 98 cutters and 95 sliders.

Changing his arsenal has been key to missing bats and emphasizing his strengths and abandoning any form of weakness. This has been something that Rangers' pitching coach Mike Maddux has been doing for years and is now doing that with Mahle and Patrick Corbin.

Fans of other teams will look for Fried, Tarik Skubal, Hunter Brown or even Mahle's teammates in Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi to be the front runners. While they are worthy candidates, it is not right that Mahle is seen as the guy who will fall off or is already forgotten about.

To get an idea of how impressive Mahle has been, his ERA+ is 261, his WHIP of 0.98, allowing only 0.33 HR/9 and a 3.08 FIP. By every measurable aspect besides strikeout rate, Mahle is producing to a level almost nobody else is.

Looking at the teams these stats are coming against makes it even crazier. Four of the teams Mahle has faced are in the top 10 of runs scored this season but have combined to score just seven runs in 31 2/3 innings against Mahle.

This stretch of greatness isn't coming against the worst teams in the league but is coming against bitter rivals, the top of the American League, and other shockingly good offenses this season.

Just because he doesn't throw 100 MPH, have a K/9 of 12 or isn't a household name doesn't mean he is not among the best in the league. In the place where run prevention is the name of the game, nobody has done it much better than Tyler Mahle.