So many aspects have gone right for the 2019 Braves. Expected closer A.J. Minter is not among them.
Minter, the 26-year-old lefty who was projected as the ninth-inning man entering spring, has been a non-factor in the Braves’ likely second consecutive division championship. That’s after a first full season in which he posted a 3.23 ERA in 61-1/3 frames and saved 15 games.
The player who once reminded some of Craig Kimbrel owns a 7.06 ERA in 36 appearances (29-1/3 innings) this season. His 35:23 strikeout-to-walk ratio is an eye-opening dropoff from last season’s 69:22 mark. His hits per nine (11) and homers per nine (0.9) have jumped.
Instead of locking down the ninth with co-closer Arodys Vizcaino, Minter has spent his season up and down between Triple-A Gwinnett and the majors. Vizcaino, meanwhile, was injured and traded to Seattle.
The Braves first demoted Minter in May after he allowed the winning run in a loss to the Diamondbacks. His ERA was north of 9.00, and he wouldn’t return until a month later.
Manager Brian Snitker continued preaching the need for a rejuvenated Minter in the bullpen. It never happened. The southpaw has posted a 5.40 ERA with 14 walks in 21 games (18-1/3 innings) since he was recalled from the initial demotion.
His regression left the bullpen in a difficult spot. The Braves received enough spurts of productivity from unheralded heroes until the trade deadline, when they swung for the fences and brought in three veteran right-handers to fortify the unit.
It’s been the season from hell for Minter since spring training. He left an exhibition outing in early March after he experienced left-shoulder soreness. Minter explained the pain could be traced to a fender-bender auto accident he had in the Orlando area earlier in the week.
Minter missed the rest of spring and part of the regular season, embarking on a four-game rehab assignment before joining the Braves on April 4. Snitker recalls that issue as one root of his problematic year.
“I point back to the fact that he missed spring training,” Snitker said. “I’m not so sure he’s not playing catch up all year. He hasn’t been the same guy he was last year. That cutter hasn’t been as big a force. The fastball command has been off. He’s had a tough year. That happens, too. You have to reflect, regroup and come out and make changes, make adjustments for next year.
“He had a good bullpen (session Tuesday), and we’re going to stay with him because we know what he’s capable of. It’s been a tough year for him.”
Minter surrendered a homer to Corey Dickerson in the Braves’ 6-5 loss to the Phillies on Tuesday. It proved to be the difference in a tight game, but also captured just how different Minter’s reality is from a season ago.
Once finishing games for a first-place club, Minter was pitching the sixth inning of a September game that the Braves didn’t exactly need to win. Rather than a pivotal piece of the back end, Minter was thrown into the middle-relief mix with Darren O’Day and Anthony Swarzak.
Snitker pointed to Minter’s fastball and cutter location as the biggest change from this year to last. Minter, who’s under team control through 2024 and isn’t even arbitration eligible until 2021, can call this year a wash. It would be an upset if he was on the team’s postseason roster.
It will make next season the most important one of his career. But in the present, the Braves will let him pitch in the final three weeks and hope he’s progressing toward a better 2020.
“In this business, you have to just keep working,” Snitker said. “It happens. Until you amass five, six, seven years in a row and get a feel for what you’re doing and how to do it, young guys are still a work in progress. It affects a young player more than a veteran guy when they miss the bulk of spring training that they did.”
