A.J. Minter/Chad Sobotka
I’m combining A.J. Minter and Chad Sobotka here because I think they both enter similar make-or-break seasons.
They each entered 2019 thought to be big parts of the back-end of the bullpen, and both fell flat, eventually getting demoted.
Minter closed 15 games for the Braves in 2018 with a 3.23 ERA in 61.1 innings with 69 strikeouts.
You could argue Sobotka was the Braves’ best reliever at the end of the 2018 season and going into the postseason. He had a 1.88 ERA that year in 14.1 innings with 21 strikeouts.
However, Minter posted a 7.06 ERA in 2019 over 29.1 innings, while Sobotka had a 6.21 ERA in 29 innings.
The issue was obvious for both of them — walks.
Sobotka walked 5.9 batters per nine innings in 2019 while Minter walked 7.1 per nine.
For whatever reason, both of them went down to Triple-A and did a great job limiting walks with BB/9 rates under two.
Sobotka continues to struggle with walks this Spring issuing four free passes in 3.2 innings. But he also shows why he’s such a promising arm with 5 strikeouts.
Minter has yet to make his Spring debut in 2020 but is expected to on Saturday.
With the stuff these guys have, we just need them to throw strikes. But if they can’t, it may be time to give them a change of scenery even though both have four years of control left.