Minter Can’t Be Trusted On Braves Roster Any Longer
By Deke Lloyd
Last night’s game, in Arizona, was much of the same for the Braves. Another blown save, by the lately impressive Luke Jackson, and a walk-off hit given up by A.J. Minter. Minter has more losses, 4, than he has saved, only 3. It’s starting to feel like the Minter situation is about as untenable as it can get. And now, the question is, how much longer can Minter stay on the team?
A.J. Minter can no longer be counted on to be the closer for the Braves. Last season, while platooning with Vizcaino, Minter was able to save 15 games for the Braves while maintaining an ERA of 3.23. The numbers weren’t mind-blowing but enough to keep him on this roster. This season, in 11 innings, Minter has given up 12 earned runs, running up his ERA to 9.82. Walks have also been an issue for the de facto Braves closer, giving up 9 in his 11 innings. Opponents are always hitting Minter hard if he isn’t walking people, batters are hitting .340 against him. These are stats a closer can’t survive with.
Despite all the numbers and evidence, the Braves still choose to roll Minter out there in situations like last night. Yes, Luke Jackson blew the game in the 9th by giving up a home run, but to roll Minter out in a late-game, stress-filled situation is like beating watching the Braves beat their heads against the wall. In the Diamondbacks game, last night, Minter gave up a walk and two hits before surrendering the game-winning hit. Yet, Snitker kept the maligned pitcher in the game only to see the Diamondbacks walk-off with the game-winning hit.
Even with the struggles of Minter, and the bullpen in general, Snitker is in a tough spot. Vizcaino, the Braves closer at the start of the season, isn’t coming back this season after his shoulder injury sidelined him. A.J. Minter was the logical choice to take his place, as he and Vizcaino both filled the role last season, but it’s evident that Minter isn’t the guy. And if the Braves keep trotting him out there in tight, stressful situations, it’s unclear if Minter will be able to turn this around. At the moment, it doesn’t feel like turning this around is possible.
The real question, for the Braves and Brian Snitker, is, is there a solution, on the roster? Right now, the Braves have Sean Newcomb, Dan Winkler, Luke Jackson, Jacob Webb, and Jerry Blevins in the bullpen. None of these guys are closers, but Jacob Webb is the closest thing the Braves have to a closer right now. Luke Jackson was on quite a run, giving up no runs in his last 15 outings, but that was broken up when David Peralta took him deep to tie the game. Jackson, is the de facto closer, as of now, until the Braves either make a trade or bring in someone, Kimbrel, who is still sitting on the market. Both of those options feel like summer moves than May moves.
The Braves bullpen continues to haunt and pop it’s ugly head up whenever they seemed to be called to duty. Jackson, as mentioned above, has been a bright spot for the bullpen, as of late. A.J. Minter has been the opposite of that. He’s been a very big detriment to the team in this early part of the season. That doesn’t mean he can’t turn it around, but every chance Minter blows is a step further from solving the issues that have been plaguing him this season. There are few things more frustrating than watching a team’s bullpen flounder to loss after loss. I have yet to mention another great Mike Soroka performance from last night’s game, but that will be forgotten because of what the bullpen did to end the game. Minter has been the main culprit of the problems. It’s time to let him go down to AAA to get his head right.