Years ago, while he was in college, I wrote to Mike Minor. He ended up not signing the card that I sent, but did write me a nice note and signed a bio page. Been a fan ever since and I was happy to see him have a career year in 2019.
He was drafted by Atlanta in the 1st round (7th overall) of the 2009 draft. He made the majors in 2010 and since then has been a dependable pitcher with the Braves, Royals, and Rangers. He has been a starter the majority of his career.
- He did pitch out of the pen briefly in 2017 with the Royals–with great results–due to some injury issues.
In 2019 he has his best season to date as a starter. He went 14-10 over 208 innings, carrying a 3.59 ERA/1.238 WHIP/ 144 ERA+. He was selected to his first All-Star team and finished 8th in Cy Young voting.
He is 31 and has a bit of an injury history. But he is a talented pitcher and if he can stay healthy he should remain one of the better starters in the league.
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | H | BB | SO | ERA+ | FIP | WHIP | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 22 | ATL | NL | 3 | 2 | 5.98 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 40.2 | 53 | 11 | 43 | 66 | 3.77 | 1.574 | |
| 2011 | 23 | ATL | NL | 5 | 3 | 4.14 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 82.2 | 93 | 30 | 77 | 93 | 3.39 | 1.488 | |
| 2012 | 24 | ATL | NL | 11 | 10 | 4.12 | 30 | 30 | 0 | 179.1 | 151 | 56 | 145 | 97 | 4.38 | 1.154 | |
| 2013 | 25 | ATL | NL | 13 | 9 | 3.21 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 204.2 | 177 | 46 | 181 | 117 | 3.37 | 1.090 | |
| 2014 | 26 | ATL | NL | 6 | 12 | 4.77 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 145.1 | 165 | 44 | 120 | 75 | 4.39 | 1.438 | |
| 2017 | 29 | KCR | AL | 6 | 6 | 2.55 | 65 | 0 | 6 | 77.2 | 57 | 22 | 88 | 176 | 2.62 | 1.017 | |
| 2018 | 30 | TEX | AL | 12 | 8 | 4.18 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 157.0 | 138 | 38 | 132 | 113 | 4.43 | 1.121 | |
| 2019 | 31 | TEX | AL | 14 | 10 | 3.59 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 208.1 | 190 | 68 | 200 | 144 | 4.25 | 1.238 | AS,CYA-8 |
| 8 Yr | 8 Yr | 8 Yr | 8 Yr | 70 | 60 | 3.90 | 236 | 170 | 6 | 1095.2 | 1024 | 315 | 986 | 109 | 3.95 | 1.222 | |
| 162 | 162 | 162 | 162 | 12 | 10 | 3.90 | 40 | 28 | 1 | 184 | 172 | 53 | 165 | 109 | 3.95 | 1.222 |