The VandySports 100: No. 25, Mike Minor

Mike Minor was a star left-handed pitcher for Vanderbilt's baseball teams in the late-2000s. He's 25th in our countdown of the 100-greatest players we've covered.

Honors and awards: 2007 first-team Freshman All-American (Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America, Rivals)

2007 Freshman All-Southeastern Conference

2007 Team USA

2008 Baseball America Summer Player of the Year

2009 SEC Pitcher of the Week (Week 9)

In the VU record book: Career strikeouts: seventh (303)

Career innings: seventh (304)

Before VU: Was a three-time all-state selection, including first-team designation as a junior and senior, at Forrest High in Chapel Hill, Tenn. Won 13 games, with 12 shutouts, posting an 0.08 ERA, with 188 strikeouts in 86 innings as a senior. Went 10-2 with a 0.81 ERA with 180 strikeouts in 86.0 innings in 2005. Led team to state runner-up finish in 2006. Also played basketball for four years. Picked by Tampa Bay in Round 13 but came to Vanderbilt instead.

Freshman (2007): Ranked second on the team in starts for a 54-13 (22-8) squad that won the SEC and the SEC Tournament, and lost in the finals of the Nashville Regional. In SEC regular-season games, Minor made 10 appearances with eight starts, posting a 3.09 ERA, 40 strikeouts and 12 walks, with a 5-1 record in 46 2/3 innings. Had just one wild pitch all season. Struck out two in an inning of scoreless relief against Michigan in the Nashville Regional. Gave up three runs on five hits in 7 1/3 innings in start against the Wolverines in the same event, striking out six with no walks. Scattered eight hits over 7 2/3 innings in win over Tennessee in the SEC Tournament. Picked up win against LSU with 7 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on five hits with six strikeouts and two walks. Allowed three runs on six hits in two innings in a no-decision against Florida. Allowed just one unearned run on two hits in five inning win over Kentucky. Gave up two unearned runs on three hits in 5 1/3 innings in win over Alabama. Allowed one run on five hits, with nine strikeouts in seven innings, in road win over then-No. 1 South Carolina. Picked up save with 1 2/3 innings of relief against Arkansas. Made SEC debut with 1 1/3 scoreless innings vs. Ole Miss. Earned first college win against Austin Peay with eight shutout innings and eight strikeouts. Made college debut vs. Baylor with 2 1/3 innings, striking out two and picking up a save. Went 5-2 with 1.64 ERA for the USA National Team, striking out 37 with just four walks in 33.0 innings.

Sophomore (2008): Was the Friday night starter for a 41-22 (15-14) team that finished third in the Tempe Regional. In SEC regular-season games, Minor, over 10 starts, was 3-2 with 70 strikeouts, 18 walks and a 5.00 ERA over 68 1/3 innings. Led Vanderbilt in strikeouts (101), innings pitched (103), complete games (two) and tied for lead in wins (seven). Beat Oregon State in the season opener, allowing one run on five hits in six innings. Named to the All-Tournament Team of the Music City Classic after striking out nine and allowing one run on three hits in 6 2/3 innings in win over Kansas. Lost, but threw a complete game, while giving up two runs, and five hits, with six strikeouts, against Illinois-Chicago. Struck out 10, throwing 8 2/3 innings with three runs and 10 strikeouts, vs. South Carolina. Pitched a complete game with 12 strikeouts to beat Alabama. Gave up one unearned run in six innings, with nine strikeouts, against Kentucky. Beat Tennessee, allowing five runs in 8 2/3 innings. Picked up the victory in the SEC Tournament against Florida, allowing three runs on five hits and striking out three in five innings of work. Allowed four runs on seven hits in eight innings against Stony Brook, Vanderbilt's only win in the NCAA Tournament. Served as the ace of the USA National Team squad that went 24-0 over the summer, going 3-0 with a 0.75 ERA during the tour with 37 strikeouts and 13 walks in a team-high 36 innings.

Junior (2009): The No. 1 starter for a 37-27 (12-17) team that finished runner-up in the Louisville Regional. In SEC regular-season games, was 4-4 in 10 appearances (all starts) with 81 strikeouts, 21 walks and seven homers allowed in 69 1/3 innings, with a 4.41 ERA. Struck out 11 and limited Arkansas to four hits in eight shutout innings, picking up a win. Threw a complete game for the second time in three starts, scattering six hits over nine innings while allowing one run with five strikeouts to top No. 1 seed LSU.

Post-VU: The Braves took Minor seventh overall in the first round of the 2009 MLB Draft. After missing all of 2015 and '16 with injury, Minor has enjoyed a nice resurgence and had his best season ever with Texas in 2019, finishing fifth in the American League in Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball Reference, last season. Minor enters his age 32 season still with the Rangers.

Final thoughts, and why I ranked him where I did: Minor had a career ERA of 3.79 but always seemed like a better pitcher than that. The run-scoring environment across college baseball, as compared to the norm for coach Tim Corbin's VU career, was three, 11 and 16 percent higher than normal. So, "normalize" Minor's ERA for that era, and it becomes 3.43.

I still think the lefty was better than that.

The rolled-bat era was peaking around 2009-10. Mediocre hitters were launching bombs everywhere. One could easily get penalized for catching too much plate, and Minor, being an elite strike-thrower, probably got punished for making good pitches that should have been fly-ball outs that instead turned into home runs. I remember Corbin fuming one night after a loss to Tennessee; an opponent struck a home run so hard it hit near the lights about 100 feet above the playing field, with Corbin exclaiming, "Albert Pujols couldn't hit a ball that hard." And if you look at Minor's summer-ball numbers against wood bats, as well as the fact he was an early first-rounder after his junior season, it's hard to argue that.

There was also the eye test. Minor just looked in command from the moment he took the hill--which was in a key spot in his first weekend of collegiate action. VU soon trusted him--and for good reason--as its No. 2 on a team that spent most of the season ranked No. 1. The next two seasons, he was the team's undisputed Friday night starter.

Minor was an elite talent and a workhorse on three NCAA Tournament teams. Statistically-speaking, I'm not certain he had the 25th-best career, but if you make common-sense adjustments for the unique context in which he pitched, I don't think it's unfair to put him there.