Texas Rangers to put Minor on ‘short leash’ after slow start, confident he’ll be fine
The Texas Rangers aren’t too concerned about Mike Minor’s slow start to the season.
Part of it stems from baseball being shut down in mid-March and Minor not being able to do full workouts during a stretch in his offseason hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee amid the coronavirus pandemic. But the Rangers are going to put Minor on a “short leash” when he starts Tuesday against Seattle, limiting him to around 75 pitches.
“I think he is going to be fine,” Rangers pitching coach Julio Rangel said. “We are going to try and keep a short leash on him. Take the next couple of outings as more of a buildup and try to get him where he needs to be.”
Minor is 0-3 with a 6.89 ERA in three starts, failing to make it through six innings each time. He threw 98 pitches in his first two starts and then “ran out of gas” after 83 pitches and five innings during his start last Thursday at Oakland.
“Mike might be a little behind as far as his arm conditioning,” Rangel said. “It’s hard when you are at home and trying to stay in shape. He was able to throw live BP early on, and then there was a period where they shut down where he was. I think that was part of it; he wasn’t able to throw while the rest of the guys were throwing.
“I don’t see anything major with him. We were looking at some video about his mechanics, he was a little slow. ... He became too methodical and too mechanical. I told him to stay athletic and in rhythm, which he did last outing until he hit that wall.”
Minor got off to a fast start last season, going 3-2 with a 2.88 ERA over six starts in the first month.
No Goody
Right-hander Nick Goody is battling tightness in his lower back and remained unavailable for Sunday’s game. Manager Chris Woodward said the team would re-evaluate Goody’s situation on Monday.
If it doesn’t improve, a stint on the injured list is a possibility.
“He was pretty sore [Saturday],” Woodward said. “It’s a really stiff back.”
Goody has a 3.00 ERA in five relief appearances with one save.
This story was originally published August 9, 2020 at 2:48 PM.
