A.J. Minter and his 2022 breakout explored

The Atlanta Braves had an incredible regular season this year with many bright spots. The bullpen was one of them being tied for second in all of MLB in fWAR. A.J. Minter was a huge part of this contribution with 2.1 fWAR of the team’s 7.6. For reference, Minter was fifth in fWAR among all MLB relievers.

Of course, fWAR is an accumulative stat, and A.J. Minter pitched more innings in 2022 than he ever has in a season. However, his expected ERA (xERA) was also the best of his career at 2.39, showing that his high fWAR was much more than just being used in more innings than most relievers.

Minter’s xERA in 2022 was top four percent in MLB, even better than his 2020 output in which he had an ERA…