The Braves’ bullpen ranked in the bottom half of the majors in virtually every major statistical category in 2017, and with Peter Moylan as its most notable offseason addition there aren’t many expecting big things for the unit this season.
But rookie left-hander A.J. Minter has a different view, as do other members of Atlanta’s pen.
“We have all the tools to be a great bullpen,” says Minter, who looks you in the eye and smiles as if to say, go ahead and doubt him, you’ll see. “Honestly, this bullpen can be great. It really can be. So it’s definitely exciting. We’re all looking forward to the season.”
A big reason they’re excited is the presence of Minter from the outset, healthy and with no restrictions on his usage. Others have also had the figurative training wheels removed following post-injury rehab seasons in 2017, including Dan Winkler, Rex Brothers, and to a lesser extent closer Arodys Vizcaino, whose early workload last season was monitored.
Veteran lefty Sam Freeman is back after his best season at age 30 – 2.55 ERA with career highs in strikeouts (59) and innings (60) – and 39-year-old Aussie sidearmer Moylan is back for a third stint with the Braves after leading the majors with 79 appearances in 2017 for the Royals and limiting right-handed hitters to a miniscule .163 average and .484 OPS.
“Sam is a guy that I really leaned on, last year and this year,” Minter said. “Getting to play catch with him every day last year when I got called up, following him, long-tossing with him, getting his philosophy on how he goes about it, when he throws and days that he doesn’t throw, what he does to prepare for the game. So it’s definitely awesome having a guy like Sam, especially for me.”
But it’s Minter whose participation without limits could have the most impact on the Braves’ bullpen this season and for years to come, if things go as the team thinks they can for the setup man and potential closer, who features a potent combination of 96-mph fastball and 90-mph slider.
After being used cautiously in 2016 in his first season back from Tommy John elbow surgery he had in college at Texas A&M, Minter’s 2017 major league debut was delayed several months by nagging injuries that sidelined him during spring training and nearly half of the minor league season.
But he was dominant upon arrival, making the “left-handed Craig Kimbrel” tag some had given him seem not so outrageous. He debuted Aug. 23, didn’t walk a batter in his first 13 appearances and finished with 26 strikeouts and two walks in 15 innings over 16 appearances, with a 3.00 ERA and 1.000 WHIP (walks-plus-hits per inning pitched).
That experience and a healthy, normal offseason and spring training – he has 10 strikeouts with one walk in 7 1/3 scoreless innings in Grapefruit League play -- have only served to increase his already considerable confidence and had Minter fairly champing at the bit to get the season started next week.
“Yeah, I have a grin on my face right now just thinking about it,” he said. “It’s definitely a lot of hard work to get here. This offseason that’s all I was focused on was just getting my body ready. I feel like I know I can pitch in this league and be successful, it’s just going out and there and staying healthy and taking care of my body.”
At this time a year ago, he was in minor league camp dealing with inflammation of a nerve near his pitching elbow, after being sent down midway through spring training without throwing in a Grapefruit League game. After he began pitching at high Single-A Florida, he strained an adductor muscle near his groin and missed two months.
But once healthy, he got his arm strength back and from there it didn’t take too long for things to click and the Braves to summon him to the big leagues. And his performance made it immediately clear not just that he belonged, but that he was not your typical rookie.
Of 45 outs recorded by Minter against major league hitters, 26 came via strikeout. He struck out 43 percent of the batters he faced and had a rate of 15.6 strikeouts per nine innings, which would put him in exclusive company if he were to maintain that pace. Only three qualifying relievers have ever finished with those rates or better for a season: Aroldis Chapman in 2013 and again in 2014, Kenley Jansen in 2011, and Kimbrel in 2012 and 2017.
Minter’s strikeouts per nine innings ranked among the best in history for a rookie in 15 or more innings, not far off the 40 strikeouts that Kimbrel had in 20 2/3 innings (17.4 per nine innings) in his debut season with the Braves in 2010.
Minter’s rate was just ahead of the 14.8 per nine innings that Kimbrel had in his first full season in 2011, when the Braves closer had a league-leading 46 saves and 127 strikeouts in 77 innings and was National League Rookie of the Year and finished ninth in Cy Young Award balloting.
No one is saying he’s the next Kimbrel, but in Minter the Braves have another special reliever and the best closer prospect they’ve had since Kimbrel.
