This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart’s Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

When he first heard he was being traded to the Astros nearly two years ago, relief pitcher Phil Maton immediately thought the worst. Not the Astros, he said to himself. Not the club that still was carrying the stigma of the most hated team in baseball coming off the sign-stealing scandal that rocked the sport a year earlier.

“But the second I got over here, two of the first people that said ‘Hi’ to me were [Jose] Altuve and [Carlos] Correa,” Maton said. “They’re just awesome guys and [labeled] across baseball as bad dudes, but they’re just a good bunch of dudes over here.”

Maton missed out on the Astros’ World Series run last year after he broke his hand punching his locker on Oct. 5, after his final outing of the season against the Phillies. He allowed a base hit to his brother, Nick, and the frustration boiled over. Surgery to repair the fifth metacarpal on his pitching hand followed and he was an observer from the dugout as the Astros went on to win the World Series.

This year, he’s been one of the best relief pitchers in baseball, despite a fastball that averages 89.4 mph. He and fellow relievers Hector Neris, Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly are manager Dusty Baker’s back-end relievers in one of the best bullpens in baseball. Maton’s steady demeanor -- the locker punch aside -- and stoic expressions have made him a favorite among fans and teammates.

“He’s got a pretty dry sense of humor,” Pressly said. “Doesn’t show a whole lot of emotion, but when he’s down with us, he opens up. He’s a big part of that bullpen. Everybody loves him down there. He's just a good teammate to have down there.”

In an era when it seems like everyone coming out of the bullpen is throwing at least 95 mph, Maton is putting up terrific numbers this year while barely touching 90 mph. He has a 1.70 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and a .170 batting average against in 39 games through Tuesday. Only Abreu (40) has pitched in more games for Houston.

Among AL relievers, Maton ranks first in WHIP and sixth in ERA and in opponents’ batting average (entering Wednesday). At 30 years old, the free-agent-to-be is having the best season of his career.

“It’s just putting myself in more favorable counts with every at-bat,” Maton said. “I feel like I’m not constantly working behind, whereas in years past I feel like I’m always ball one, ball two and clawing my way back. Just overall, just execution of pitches. I’m either getting to my spot or missing just off as opposed to being in the middle of the plate, and two, just trying to have the focus of trying to walk fewer guys. I think just with that and pitch execution, it’s just kind of helped my numbers out a lot.”

Pressly compares him somewhat to former teammate Zack Greinke -- but with more spin. Maton’s curveball’s spin rate averages 3,144 RPM, which ranks in the 98th percentile in the Majors, and his fastball spin rate (2,556 rpm) ranks in the 95th percentile. He’s held hitters to an average exit velocity of 83.5 mph, which is the lowest in baseball.

“He’s not going to overpower you with a lot of things and he can deceive you really well with how he makes strikes look like balls and balls look like strikes, and how he throws his curveball is very unique compared to a lot of other people,” Pressly said. “His 89, 90 plays up to 95, 97. He’s able to locate all his stuff. I think, finally, he’s starting to trust all of it and you see when he takes the mound every time.”

Like many pitchers before him, Maton said the Astros have helped him raise his game with the amount of information they’ve given him about his stuff, including his pitch shapes. He understands what the best profiles are for his pitches. Maton has also developed a good slider, which is one of the pitches he relies on the most to get in the strike zone.

“It’s a credit to a lot of our coaches, a lot of our staff and a lot of the analytics guys who have put in the time to kind of figure out what’s the best version of each pitcher in the organization and I’m very thankful to have gotten traded over here,” he said. “I feel like, in the long run, it’s really going to help me out.”

And it should help out Maton’s wallet when he hits free agency.

“I’d love to come back,” he said. “Right now, the only thing I need to worry about is locking down innings and hopefully going back to the World Series.”