PHOENIX –– After Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Tyler Mahle pitched nine shutout innings in the Reds win on Tuesday over the Arizona Diamondbacks, he stood in the interview room and answered questions about the best start of his career.
Mahle explained why his fastball was so effective. He described why his season has turned around in June. When the questions were over, Mahle had one more point he wanted to make.
Mahle shifted the focus to catcher Aramis Garcia, who was behind the plate for Tuesday’s win.
“One thing I will say to you guys is Garcia tonight, if you go back and watch the sequences he was calling, I know you’ve got to make pitches, but the sequences he was calling were the greatest I’ve ever seen,” Mahle said. “By far. It was the greatest game I think I’ve ever seen called.”
Tyler Mahle struck out 12 batters without issuing a single walk versus the Diamondbacks
Garcia already knew that Mahle felt that way about his work behind the plate. Mahle had told him that during the game. Mahle also looked at Garcia in the dugout at one point and asked him how he was “reading (Mahle’s) mind.”
Mahle struck out 12 batters without issuing a single walk versus the Diamondbacks. Garcia had Mahle move his fastball all around the strike zone. He had Mahle set up splitters low and away. He had Mahle increase the usage of his cutter.
At one point in the game, Mahle was standing on the mound hoping that Garcia would call a fastball on the far side of the strike zone. Garcia called that exact pitch. The pitcher and catcher were always on the same page versus the Diamondbacks on Tuesday.
“I always tell people that you spend a max of eight minutes in the (batter's) box,” Garcia said. “But as a catcher, you’re responsible for 150 to 200 pitches. That’s a responsibility I don’t take lightly. Their success is my own. Anything I can do to support them and give them the best chance to be themselves and be successful is what I want to do out there.”
Aramis Garcia meeting challenge of temporarily replacing potential All-Star catcher Tyler Stephenson
Garcia currently has one of the biggest challenges on the Reds roster. He’s temporarily replacing starting catcher Tyler Stephenson, who was a potential All-Star before he broke his thumb last week.
At the start of the season, Garcia had only caught 41 MLB games at catcher even though he made his big league debut in 2018. While he only had a .218 career batting average and had spent most of his time in Triple-A before the start of this season, the Reds targeted Garcia as the type of catcher who could make pitching performances like Mahle’s on Tuesday take place.
“The front office has done a good job designating those people, finding them and recruiting them,” Reds catching coach J.R. House said. “We have the ability to work with them once they get here. Our number one thing is always going to be game calling. Running the staff, leadership, that’s going to be first. Please get us those types of players. We can do the rest to try to help them.”
This season, Garcia caught the game where Hunter Greene didn’t allow any hits. He caught rookie starter Graham Ashcraft’s impressive MLB debut. He caught a game against the Chicago Cubs at the end of May where Mahle allowed one hit in 6 ⅔ shutout innings.
While he has developed into an analytically above-average blocker and pitch framer, Garcia’s biggest contribution is his work with the pitching staff. Garcia only had a .153 batting average entering Wednesday’s game, but Reds manager David Bell described how Garcia’s value can fly under the radar.
“Aramis does his homework,” Bell said. “He’s really prepared. He understands our pitchers. He understands Tyler (Mahle) and what will help him succeed. It’s fun when that can work together. Usually, it’s not just the pitcher. They’re both doing it. That’s pretty cool (Mahle) gave (Garcia) the credit. I saw the same thing. Great sequences all night.”
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