The San Francisco Giants didn’t get much back for Tyler Mahle at the trade deadline, at least on paper. With Mahle’s contract expiring and his season going sideways, the Braves sent over Anthony Molina, a 24-year-old right-hander carrying a 6.89 career ERA and little in the way of prospect shine.
A month later, that deal looks a lot more interesting.
Molina has already given the Giants three straight wins, and he’s done it while looking far more useful than anyone could have expected. He debuted as a bulk reliever and picked up a win with 4 1/3 scoreless innings against the Reds, even though he struck out just one.
That earned him a start the next time out, and it came against Atlanta. Molina handled that one too, working five innings of three-run ball with six strikeouts as the Giants got their first sweep of the season.
Then came Saturday in New York, where he turned in his sharpest outing yet: one hit, two unearned runs, and six strikeouts over five innings in a win over the Mets.
That made him just the fourth Giants pitcher since 1995 to win each of his first three appearances with the team.
The biggest reason for the change appears to be a shift in how he’s attacking hitters. Molina has leaned heavily on his four-seam fastball in all three outings with San Francisco, using it more than 50% of the time. That was a noticeable jump from his time in Atlanta, and he also used that approach in his three minor league appearances after the trade.
The fastball itself isn’t suddenly overpowering. Its velocity sits in the 76th percentile and its spin rate is about average, with neither number improving since he arrived in San Francisco.
But Molina has gotten real mileage out of it by working it up in the zone. The pitch has generated 17 of his 31 swings and misses, and it was especially effective against his old club.
Matt Olson, Ronald Acuña Jr., Drake Baldwin, and Sean Murphy all struck out on elevated heaters.
Across those three appearances, Molina owns a 1.88 ERA and a 3.51 FIP, which is a lot more than the Giants could have reasonably expected when they dealt away the final two months of a starting pitcher contract that had been a complete bust. Even so, there’s reason to keep the brakes on a little.
Nothing in the data says his stuff has taken some massive leap, and it’s still unclear whether his secondary pitches will hold up enough for him to remain a starter long term. Some regression is probably coming.
But the swing-and-miss he’s shown does suggest his floor as a reliever is higher than anyone thought.
There’s also a sharp twist in all this: Atlanta has gotten even more out of Mahle. The Braves have pushed more four-seam and split-finger usage from him, and since the deadline he’s been the best pitcher in baseball.
He followed that up Sunday with six strong innings and dropped his ERA with Atlanta to 1.24. With postseason starts likely ahead for him, it’s still too early to say the Giants came out ahead in the trade.
Still, Molina has become a real bright spot in a rough season. For a Giants club that has gone nowhere this year and isn’t expected to change much next year, that matters.
The 2027 pitching staff already has plenty of question marks, so any sign that the organization can identify a pitcher and help him take a step forward is worth noticing. The Giants have long had coaching staffs that pulled that off repeatedly; the current group hasn’t done it nearly as often, but Molina is at least an encouraging example.
That hope extends beyond the big league club, too. San Francisco made a point of building pitching depth through the draft and at the deadline, and the organization took a big step by adding a wave of arms. Getting those pitchers to develop the right way is a different challenge entirely, but the early returns have been promising, with several draft and deadline additions performing well in their first games in the system.
No one knows how long Molina’s run will last. At this stage, though, that’s not really the point.
He’s the first deadline acquisition to reach the majors, and in doing so he’s become something more than a surprise arm. He’s a sign that the Giants may be getting the right players, and maybe even doing the right things with them.
In a season marked by poor performance and messy communication, that’s a meaningful development. And for this team, it may be the best kind of hope available.
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