Here is a quote from AJC reporter Carroll Rogers, about struggling Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Mike Minor:
All I can tell you about what happens next is the impression I got from manager Fredi Gonzalez last night, and that's the Braves plan to be patient with Minor and keep running him out there, at least for now.
This almost absolutely means that General Manger Frank Wren is thinking the opposite, and Minor will be replaced on the roster the next time through the rotation. At least, that's what has happened the last few times Fredi has commented on a roster decision.
Also, Carroll...
As some others have suggested, it does seem Minor is having some problems pitching out of the stretch and maybe that’s why he struggled so much last night
... do not be afraid to mention Talking Chop by name, or even throw in a link to this story about Minor's stretch splits.
The Braves will turn from their first round draft pick bonus baby with the 7+ ERA to their undrafted free agent out of a small Indiana University ... who is leading the Majors in ERA. #Dumbfounded.
If yesterday's splits versus Minor were any example of how the Marlins would hit him, then hopefully each pitchers' splits today are also indicative of future performance. Vs. pitcher after the jump...
Watching last night's game, fans of the Atlanta Braves were hopeful that Mike Minor was past the issues that had plagued him the last three starts ... and then the fourth inning happened. And then the fifth inning happened. Minor had allowed only one baserunner through those first three innings -- a two-out walk in the second -- the rest of the time he was free to wind up and deliver, and deliver he did, very effectively.
Then the fourth inning happened, and an Omar Infante Single began the unraveling. He hit the next batter, gave up a double, walked a guy -- something was different about this Mike Minor than the one I had been watching the first three innings.
In those early innings he was putting the ball exactly where Brian McCann wanted it, hitting the catcher's mitt with routine precision. In the fourth and fifth innings, he was all over the place. He was unable to command his pitches with any sort of consistency, and the Marlins batters made him pay.
That prompted me to look up some splits this morning, specifically Minors splits with runners on and with the bases empty, and lo and behold the difference is frightening:
Minor in 2012 with bases empty: .226/.282/.339 ... .621 OPS
Minor in 2012 with runners on: .422/..461/.766 ... 1.226 OPS
This leads me to believe that Minor's mechanics out of the stretch, when runners are on base, are out of whack somehow. This is further supported by his numbers last year, which show just the opposite:
Turner Field, Miami Marlins vs. Atlanta Braves, 5/16/12, top of the fifth
Gwinnett's offense was hot, but not hot enough to back Jurrjens' terrible start. Mississippi had the night off, while Schlehuber homered for Lynchburg and Navery Moore turned in a great start with Rome.
Gwinnett Braves 7, Buffalo Bison 14
Left-hander Mike Minor struggled yet again Wednesday, becoming the first pitcher since Kenny Rogers in 2008 to give up six or more earned runs in four consecutive starts (Courtesy of @Junkstats). The Braves were unable to overcome Minor's rough start, and fell to Miami 8-4.
Atlanta opened the scoring in the first, as Tyler Pastornicky singled up the middle on the first pitch of the game. Martin Prado followed with a backside double, moving Pastornicky to third. Freddie Freeman followed with a grounder to first that scored Pastornicky to make it 1-0.
Minor held Miami scoreless through three, but things turned on him in the fourth. A single and a hit by pitch put runners on first and second for Austin Kearns, who scored both runner with a double to center. Three batters later, Emilio Bonifacio brought in Kearns with a single to left.
With the score 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth, Atlanta had runners on second and third for Jason Heyward. Heyward crushed an inside pitch from Mark Buehrle into right field that looked like a sure double. However, Giancarlo Stanton made an incredible diving catch to rob Heyward of a hit and save the Marlins lead.
In the fifth, Miami utilized a little league play of sorts that worked. With Omar Infante on first and Jose Reyes on third, the Marlins called Infante to steal second. McCann decided to thrown down to second, allowing Reyes to break from third and score. The ball should have never been thrown, but since it was, Pastornicky should have cut in front of the bag to shorten the distance. That increased the lead to 4-1.
Two batters later, Gaby Sanchez singled to center, scoring Infante and chasing Minor. Cristhian Martinez entered, and allowed an inherited runner from Minor to score, but that's it. The Braves finished the frame down 6-1.
Atlanta finally got to Buehrle in the sixth. A double by Prado and a walk to Freeman put runners on first and second for Uggla, who singled to center. That scored Prado, cutting the deficit to 6-2. After a wild pitch allowed the runners to advance a base, back-to-back groundouts scored Freeman and Uggla. 6-4 would be as close as the Braves would get.
With a runner on first, Stanton put an exclamation point on his night by crushing a Martinez fastball into the center field stands for a two-run home run. That made the score 8-4. Heath Bell recorded a 1-2-3 ninth for the save.
WP:
Mark Buehrle: 6 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K.
LP:
Mike Minor: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K.
Mark Buehrle takes on Mike Minor in game one of the short series. First pitch is set for 7:10 PM ET. Braves lineup:
On Wednesday, the Miami Marlins come to Atlanta after splitting a two-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. On the season, the Marlins are 19-17 and are sitting in fourth place in the National League East. They are 3.5 games back of the division leading Braves.
So far in 2012 however, the results of the Marlins big offseason have been mixed.
Surprisingly, Omar Infante has been the team's best offensive weapon, with a triple slash line of .325/.350/.598 to go along with a wOBA of .407 and a wRC+ of 158. Giancarlo Stanton had to deal with a knee injury early in the season, but has recovered and gotten his power stroke back. He's hitting .281/.338/.508 with a .227 ISO, .361 wOBA, and a wRC+ of 126.
John Buck is an interesting case so far in 2012. He's been slightly above average with a 103 wRC+ and a line of .202/.337/.391. He's sporting a low BABIP, but what I found most interesting is his plate discipline stats so far. Small sample size warning of course, but he's swinging at just around 55 percent of pitches in the zone, down from 73 percent last year. Overall, he's swinging at around just 37 percent of pitches overall, down from 50 percent last year. His walks are up, but he's almost being too passive at the plate it seems like.
Hanley Ramirez enters hitting .234/.311/.421 with a .336 wOBA and 110 wRC+. He's tied with Stanton for the team lead in home runs with seven. Jose Reyes is still showing his on-base skills, but not much else with a line of .255/.350/.350 with a .307 wOBA and 90 wRC+.
Emilio Bonifacio has no power, but makes up for it with his blazing speed. He leads all of baseball by far in steals with 19 of them. He's hitting .264/.352/.314 with a .333 wOBA and wRC+ of 107.
The Marlins have been platooning Logan Morrison and Austin Kearns in left field as of late, with Kearns likely to start when Mike Minor pitches on Wednesday. Kearns is hitting .263/.333/.553 with a .382 wOBA and 141 wRC+. Morrison is hitting .274/.360/.379 with a .323 wOBA and 101 wRC+. Good on-base skills, but the power isn't there for him so far.
The big hole in the lineup has been at first base, with Gaby Sanchez mired in a terrible start so far. He's hitting .198/.244/.306 with a .242 wOBA and 45 wRC+. Yeah, that's bad.
Starting pitchers and the bullpen after the jump.
