The Braves’ All-Star Pitcher?

Mike Minor is starting to spoil Braves fans. While the team has been searching for an ace as of late, Minor has really stepped up to this point in the season. Is he a hands down ace on any team? No, but he has performed better than any Braves starter at this juncture.

Mike Minor has been a huge figure in the Braves first place pace so far this season. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Does Minor deserve to be a National League All-Star in 2013? I have no doubts that he deserves at the very least some consideration for a spot in the rotation. Overall, Minor is 8-3 with a 2.98 ERA in 102.2 innings pitched. He has struck out 95 batters while only allowing 20 walks and only giving up 34 total earned runs. The 88 total hits that he has given up is 20 less than a stellar Adam Wainwright, and 8 less than the quietly stellar Cliff Lee. A stat that surprised me was his 11 quality starts out of his 16 total, which makes for about 3 quality starts out of 4. In his 16 starts, he has only given up more than 4 runs once, less that 3 runs in 10 starts, and less than 2 runs in 7.

In his last 10 games pitched, he is 5-1 with 64 strikeouts and only allowing 20 earned runs (8 of those coming in two games).  In those games, his ERA dropped to a low 2.44, before rising back up to a still good 2.98. The Braves were also 8-2 in that stretch, with both losses coming by only one run. As a matter of fact, in his 16 starts, the Braves have only lost 5 times, and they have only been beaten by more than 2 runs once(one 5 run loss, one 2 run loss, 3 one run losses).

So again, does Mike Minor deserve to be an All-Star this season? To this point for the Braves, Minor would have to be considered the teams “ace” and with the performance he has put up in numbers and for his team, one would have to seriously consider putting him on the staff in New York this season.