The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Minter working toward lofty goals
Rookie left-hander has yet to walk a batter in 11 innings.
It took him a little longer to get here than A.J. Minter or the Braves expected because of early-season injuries, but now that he’s here, the hard-throwing rookie lefthander is getting on with his intentions of taking over the world. OK, that’s exaggeration. But the point is, the young Texan is hungry and confident. And talented. ”The goal isn’t to just make it to the major leagues, the goal is to help this team win a World Series and be the best pitcher in major league baseball,” Minter said Thursday, a day after pitching a perfect sixth inning with two strikeouts against the heart of the Nationals order to protect what was a 2-1 Braves lead at the time. ”That’s the ultimate goal. I want to dominate hitters. I want to go out there and compete. It’s fun.” He’s certainly gone out there and competed, and made it look fun and far easier than pitchit is for most ers, not to mention rookies. Minter struck out 14 of the past 25 batters he faced through Wednesday and had a 2.45 ERA and 0.64 WHIP (walks-plus-hits per inning pitched), allowing seven hits and no walks with 17 strikeouts in 11 innings. His .175 opponents’ average and microscopic .475 opponents’ OPS through his first 11 appearances included a .120 average (3 for 25) by right-handed batters with no walks and 12 strikeouts. There are reasons the Braves have talked about him being a potential closer since the day in 2015 when they drafted him in the second round out of Texas A&M. ”I can see that,” said Braves manager Brian Snitker, who is reminded of another former All-Star left-handed closer when he watches Minter. “I just keep thinking about Billy (Wagner). It’s not bad to have a lefthanded closer. It’s real. He stepped right in and hasn’t walked anybody, he’s been really good. ... ”He’s an impressive kid, man. The big thing was just getting him right, his health issues, and his arm not even all the time. ... He was a guy that was going to vie for a position in our bullpen in the spring, and he just couldn’t get on the field then. So you never know. Funny how things work out. It might have been a good thing. Now you talk about we’re getting a good look at these guys in some situations, and going forward this kid’s a really good piece.” Before Minter, no Braves pitcher since at least 1913 had begun his career with as many as 10 walk-free appearances. But what has made Minter’s lack of walks all the more impressive is how he’s pounded the strike zone but avoided giving hitters many pitches they can make good contact on, overpowering them with his combination of upper-90 mph fastballs complemented with cutters and sliders and a pitch that’s a combination of both. ”I call it my breaking ball,” he said. “Different counts it’s going to be a true cutter, and then I if want to go for that strikeout pitch I’m going to make it a little bit bigger, take a little bit off, and it’s going to move a little bit more than a true cutter. Cutter-slider, it’s a mixture.”