CINCINNATI – A change in the grips he utilizes on some pitches wasn’t the only adjustment that Braves pitcher Mike Minor made during his team-imposed down time earlier this month. The left-hander also changed his mindset, to get back to his old way of thinking.
“I just kind of revamped everything, threw away everything and just went out there like my old self last year,” Minor said late Friday, after taking a no-hitter to the eighth inning of the Braves’ 3-1, 12-inning victory against the Reds.
The Braves had him take a break after he went 2-3 with a 7.33 ERA, .357 opponents’ average and 12 homers allowed in 54 innings over a span of 10 starts through Aug. 1. He spent the next 10 days working on his delivery and approach.
In three starts since returning, he has a 2.53 ERA, .176 opponents’ average and two homers allowed in 21 1/3 innings.
Minor had one of the best starts of his career Friday, allowing one run, one hit and four walks with five strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings, and holding the Reds hitless until Billy Hamilton’s two-out RBI single to shallow center in the eighth.
He credited fellow Braves starter Ervin Santana with helping him change the grip on his sinker and slider, adjustments that Minor said gave his pitches more depth. He also said he changed his mental approach after realizing how much counterproductive fretting he’d done during his struggles this season.
“The confidence,” he said. “I don’t really think about my previous starts now. I think that’s what I was doing earlier in the year, I was kind of leaning on those starts and hoping I didn’t repeat that. And it kept on going all year, one bad start after another. And so now I don’t really care anymore, I just go about my business and be confident and make pitches.”
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