3 Braves pitchers who could be called upon in NLDS after Charlie Morton injury
By Josh Wilson
A.J. Minter
I like A.J. Minter as a possible opener for the inverse reason of Johnson: He's a lefty, and could be a solid matchup against the two righties in the top third of the lineups the Braves are most likely to face in the divisional round.
Here's how Minter's splits look against righties vs lefties:
vs LHH | vs RHH | |
|---|---|---|
BA | .280 | .190 |
K/BB | 1.6 | 6.1 |
WHIP | 1.68 | 0.87 |
K% | 27.3% | 35.0% |
FIP | 3.84 | 2.54 |
As you'd expect, he's far better against right-handed batters than he is against lefties, but his 27.3% strikeout rate against lefties is still the third-best on the Braves. If he's used in an opening capacity where his only job is to get those first three outs, preferably by striking batters out, then this could be a tenable solution.
Minter started Game 5 of the NLCS in 2020, going three innings for the Braves. He tallied seven strikeouts giving up just a hit and no earned runs on the appearance. The Braves went on to lose, but Minter gave them the opportunity they needed to close out with a W.
Manager Brian Snitker -- still the skipper in the A -- had this to say of his start then: "“To tell you the truth, we got an inning more or an inning and a half more than I thought we’d get out of him."
He has proven he can play up to the moment.