Mike Minor, Texas Rangers
After missing the 2015 and 2016 seasons, Minor made his comeback with the Kansas City Royals in 2017 exclusively as a reliever, and it went very well. He ended up signing a three-year deal with Texas the following winter because they were willing to give him a shot to be a starting pitcher again. Last season went reasonably well — he posted a 4.18 ERA and 2.5 fWAR in 157 innings, but he’s taken things to another level thus far in 2019.
The 31-year-old left-hander has already accumulated 64.2 innings and has lowered his ERA to 2.64 while having his fWAR already up at 1.9. He’s allowed hard contact at a 35.9% clip, but he’s paired it with a 41.1% ground-ball rate. That’s not only a huge increase from 2018’s number (34.4%), but it’d be a single-season career-high mark as a starter if he can sustain it.
Minor’s slider usage has decreased nearly 20 percentage points since 2017, while his changeup usage has increased just over 13 percentage points. Opposing hitters have posted a 30.6% strikeout rate with a 30 wRC+ against that offspeed pitch.
If Minor can keep it up, he may find himself on a contending time before the trade deadline passes.
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