It’s no secret; Mike Minor has faced some difficulties at the mound lately.
In June, Minor recorded two pitching losses and three no decisions. In the 12 games he’s pitches so far this year, he’s secured only two pitching wins. Minor’s 4.73 season ERA is the highest of all Braves pitchers.
Though, his largest struggle may be home runs. Minor has allowed more homeruns so far this season (13) than any other Braves pitcher.
“My whole career I’ve allowed a lot of home runs,” Minor said.
Minor said he’s consulted Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell for guidance. After talking to McDowell, the two concluded that though Minor usually pitches four seam fastballs, he’s been trying to throw too many two seam sinkers as of late—in an unsuccessful effort to get more ground balls.
“I think a lot of times it’s just mistakes and I throw a lot of strikes…so if I was more nibbling on the corners and throwing more balls I might not give that many home runs,” Minor said. “But it could also hurt me just the same.”
Minor’s last outing ended up being a win for Shae Simmons. On July 1 against the Mets Minor pitches 4.1 innings, in which he allowed all four of New York’s runs—including two home runs.
“Actually I thought I made some pretty good pitches throughout the game but obviously the pitches that they hit were bad pitches and they were taking pretty comfortable swings,” Minor said “That just tells me that I need to be more on both sides of the plate. I think I was on one side of the plate a lot and I only showed them a couple of pitches on the inner half.”
He ended the outing with 101 pitches, 67 strikeouts and a 4.73 ERA. Four pitchers were brought out of the bullpen to relieve Minor, including Simmons, Luis Avilan, Jordan Walden and Craig Kimbrel. Combined, the four relievers allowed one hit and no runs in 4.2 innings.
“I think the last couple of games….only went four and a third the other day so it kind of depletes the bullpen whenever I’m out there and I don’t want to be that guy,” Minor said.
Minor’s less than perfect outing against the Mets hasn’t hurt his confidence going into his Monday start against the Mets at Citi Field.
“Maybe I’ll try to just even it out. Make them guess more instead of sitting on one side of the plate,” Minor said. “They got me last time, hopefully I get them this time.”
