TAMPA, Fla. – If this had been a year or two ago, Braves pitcher Mike Minor might have shaken him off when a veteran catcher flashed the sign for a curveball or slider in some of the situations where Gerald Laird called for those pitches Saturday.
But Minor has matured and developed the confidence to make adjustments and be open-minded to some different views. Surely it also helps that Minor’s rotation spot is secure this spring, and he’s getting ready for the season rather than battling for a job.
The left-hander pitched four scoreless innings Saturday in the Braves’ 2-1 Grapefruit League win against the Yankees, allowing three hits and two walks and also working around a couple of fielding errors. Minor said Laird mixed in more pitches than usual.
“We only threw maybe five changeups,” Minor said. “He (called for) more sliders and curveballs than I usually throw, especially for the beginning of spring training. Spent the day just really working on that, and trying to work out of jams and mix in more game-like situations and attacking hitters.”
The Yankees had two baserunners in each of the first three innings, and Jayson Nix led off their fourth with a two-base error on a pop-up that should’ve been caught by first baseman Chris Johnson or second baseman Dan Uggla, who was charged with his second error of the game.
Minor got out of trouble after giving up leadoff singles in the first and second innings and a one-out single in the third. Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, in his first game since October ankle surgery, singled on Minor’s first pitch in the first inning.
“I got my work in dealing with trouble,” Minor said. “I don’t think I had a clean inning. But it was good just to work out of things. Had a couple of balls just land in no-man’s land, kind of just bumped heads out there. But I also had Uggs pick me up on one play, the double play…
“I feel like my slider and curveball are way ahead of where they were last year at this time. They’re almost at the same point where they were at the end of last year. So I feel happy about that going into the season.
After Ichiro Suzuki singled with one out in the third inning, he stole second base and a distracted Minor walked Eduardo Nunez. But Uggla made a leaping catch to catch Juan Rivera’s soft liner and threw to second for the inning-ending double play.
“When Suzuki was on, I was too much into him running rather than throwing the pitch,” Minor said. “I came back in and (pitching coach) Roger (McDowell) told me right away, ‘You need to worry about you. I know he’s going to run and wants to run, but you need just to mix in your head looks and your timing.’ Because I told him I didn’t want to slide-step every pitch.
“So it was something I needed to work on, being faster to the plate without necessarily leaning with all my body weight, keeping my mechanics and motion but being quick about it.”
Minor did that in the fourth. After Nix reached on the two-base error, Minor induced outs by the next three batters on a grounder to third base, a flyball and a pop-up.
“He pitched well,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “He got out of some jams. I’m really enjoying so far in spring training watching Laird handle the pitching staff. I’m glad that he decided to stay here (Laird turned down an invitation to play for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic), because he’s done a good job handling those guys, making them work their pitches – (Julio) Teheran and Minor.”
Laird strained a calf muscle last week and played in only one of the past five games before Saturday. The leg held up well, but Gonzalez said he would probably rest him the next couple of days as a precaution.
The Braves want to make sure Laird is healthy and ready for a heavy workload in the first two or three weeks of the season, when he’ll be the primary catcher while Brian McCann completes the final stages of his six-month rehab from back surgery.
Laird was a backup catcher on World Series teams with St. Louis in 2011 and Detroit in 2012, and excelled while filling in for a couple of stints when Tigers standout Alex Avila was injured last season.
“I’ve been ready to go, they’ve just been giving me some days off,” Laird said of his calf strain. “It’s just about wanting be ready to go for the season, since I’m going to come out of the gate playing quite a bit. As long as I catch everyone and get my reps this spring, I’ll be fine. I know what to do. We’ve got quite a ways to go, plenty of time for me to get in there and do what I need. The main thing is just catching everyone and making sure we’re on the same page.”
The Braves signed Laird to a two-year contract after David Ross went to Boston as a free agent.
“That (veteran presence) was one of the characteristics we were trying to get from a backup guy,” Gonzalez said. “A guy who could catch and throw, handle a pitching staff, good clubhouse presence. He’s been all those things.”
Short hops: Tyler Pastornicky tripled and scored on Uggla's two-out single in the seventh inning. Pastornicky has seven hits in his past 14 at-bats and ranks among National League leaders in hits (12) and batting average (.419). Barring injuries, the second-year infielder isn't expected to make the opening-day roster…. Bench candidate Jordan Schafer led off the ninth with a ground-rule double, his second such double in five days at Steinbrenner Field. The outfielder had a ground-rule double in Tuesday's 2-0 win against the Yankees. Schafer scored Saturday on Jordan Parraz's sacrifice fly…. Tim Hudson will start Sunday (1:05 p.m.) against Marlins lefty Wade LeBlanc at Champion Stadium.
