Zach Miner

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Tue Nov 20, 2007 5:11 pm

.....sorry

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Fri Feb 22, 2008 6:27 am

Could Zach Miner be a closer? Miriano Rivera serves as inspiration for righty reliever

LAKELAND, Fla. -- The King and I.

That's the title Zach Miner could put on the scene that has taken place the past few years when the Tigers have visited Yankee Stadium.

The bullpens there are adjacent. Miner likes to peer into the Yankees bullpen to watch the warm-up of that most regal of all relievers, Mariano Rivera.

"Seeing him in person gives you a feel for how good his stuff is," Miner said. "He has just that one pitch -- the cut fastball -- and he throws it really hard."

Rivera has 443 career saves. Miner has none. But when Miner looked into Rivera's realm, was he perhaps looking at his own future?

Could Miner be the man who eventually succeeds Todd Jones as closer?

But other questions come before it. One is whether Miner can pitch consistently well as a late-inning setup man as he did in spurts last season. Another is whether he'll make this year's team out of spring training.

But listening to Miner, manager Jim Leyland and bullpen coach Jeff Jones, perhaps someday Miner could do for the Tigers what Rivera has done hundreds of times for the Yankees: jog in to the mound to inherit a narrow lead for the ninth inning.

Miner has an intangible qualification for being a closer. He likes the ninth-inning drama.

"I definitely really enjoy that adrenaline rush," Miner said. "You don't get that when you start.

"It's like the end of the race, the finish. Everything is more compressed and magnified. The fans get a little louder."

Miner was a starter throughout the minors. As a rookie on the Tigers two years ago, he had more starts than relief outings. But of his 34 appearances with the Tigers last season, all but one came out of the bullpen.

His work last season included two ninth-inning assignments in Cleveland.

In June, he got the final two outs of a 9-5 win.

In September, Miner preserved a tie by holding the Indians hitless over the ninth and 10th innings. In the 11th, he gave up a game-ending homer to Casey Blake.

Jones says Miner possesses key traits for a reliever.

"He can get loose in a hurry," Jones said. "And he's got a great sinker. I like guys coming out of the bullpen that can sink the ball, because a lot of times you are coming in with guys on base."

A sinker can produce the double-play grounder.

Jones also likes that Miner enjoys the final-act theater of relief pitching.

"If he's comfortable at the end of the game, that's tremendous," Jones said. "That's what we want -- we want guys that want to be in there when the game is on the line."

Miner's desire for late-inning work could merge with the Tigers' need for a late-inning reliever. They need to fill the vacancy caused by Joel Zumaya's shoulder injury. They must decide on someone to replace Zumaya and team with Fernando Rodney for the seventh and eighth innings.

Bullpen vulnerability helped keep the Tigers out of the playoffs last season. In the first half of the season, they lost seven home games they led in the seventh inning or later.

Miner didn't have anything to do with any of those losses. It wasn't until about midseason that the right-hander got fully involved in the bullpen and showed his relief talent.

"He can get better and better and better," Leyland said Thursday of Miner as a reliever. "He's got a good sinker. I think he'll get more comfortable.

"I think he knows he belongs. I really like Zach. I think he's got a chance to be a hell of a relief pitcher."

Closers don't have to be real young when they begin their ninth-inning work. On March 12, Miner turns 26. That's how old Rivera was when he recorded his first save.
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bow

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Fri Feb 22, 2008 7:17 am

Sound like a good plan to me.

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Fri Feb 22, 2008 7:37 am

No arguments from me. I like Zach and think he could really help the team out in the bullpen. I never imagined he would prefer a bullpen role over starting. Who knew? lol
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"I'm glad we're in the other division," Terry Francona, manager of the East-winning Boston Red Sox, told the Associated Press. "That lineup just got scary."

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Tue May 27, 2008 5:07 am

05/26/2008 9:34 PM ET
Miner getting more sink, better results
Tigers reliever producing more ground balls recently
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

ANAHEIM -- Zach Miner's recipe for success is no secret. The more sink on the ball, the more his fortunes rise. Somehow, he just got away from that for a while.

Less than three weeks ago, Miner was staring at a 9.33 ERA and a .301 batting average allowed on the season. A week and a half ago, that average was still at .298, and he was allowing exactly half of his inherited runners to score. In seven innings since then, including Monday, he hasn't allowed a run to cross the plate, inherited or otherwise.

In the process, he has resembled more the ground-ball pitcher manager Jim Leyland values him to be in the Tigers bullpen. That's the kind of pitcher the Tigers need Miner to be. They have plenty of relievers with blazing fastballs.

"Number one, if it's on the ground, it's not over the fence," Leyland said. "That's pretty big. Number two, if you need to get out of an inning with a double-play ball, or if you have first and second with nobody out and you get a double play to have a man on third and two outs, that's a big difference."

Part of the difference for Miner comes in trusting his slider. It's a pitch he has been working on for some time now and tinkering with this year, but had yet to develop the faith to use in close situations. After Miner allowed two inherited runners to score to take a loss May 16 at Arizona, Tigers coaches told him it was essentially time to take the training wheels off the slider.

"I didn't want to get beat with a pitch I was working on in the bullpen," Miner said. "They pretty much sat me down after my first outing in Arizona and said, 'You're throwing it, so you'd better start throwing it.' Every situation I felt like I had where I could throw one, I just tried to mix it in there.

"I think it's helped a lot so far. I'm starting to get a little confidence in it. It's one of those things coming in with guys on base, I think I was getting a little fastball happy and was kind of afraid to throw it. I think it helped to get a little kick in the butt to throw it or else."

Before that, Miner was using a lot of fastballs against right-handed hitters, and it shows in his stats. Even with his recent run of success, he entered Monday allowing a .316 batting average and .831 OPS against right-handed hitters, compared with .186 and .602 versus left-handed batters.

The other difference is his ability to spot the sinker low in the strike zone. The better he does that, obviously, the more likely he is to get a ground ball. Part of the problem came when he began to overthrow his sinker a little too much, or then tried to get too fine with it. A sinker at the knees and over the plate, he pointed out, is better than a sinker left up off the edge of the strike zone.

"It's just a byproduct of just staying on the glove, trying to work downhill," Miner said. "Everybody wants to see the radar gun light up and everything, but if it means you're up in the zone and the ball's flat, it's not doing you any good, no matter how hard you throw it up here. If you're up over the plate, they're going to hit it. The key is to try to keep my angle good and just throw it downhill, get good sink on it. Whether it's 81 or 101 [mph], it doesn't matter to me, as long as I'm getting outs."

Recently he is, and he's getting a lot of them on the ground. Miner's ground-ball-to-fly-ball ratio of 2.76 entering Monday would be the highest of his Major League career.

That ratio has actually dropped a little bit in his last few outings. After retiring Twins slugger Justin Morneau on a fly ball Sunday afternoon, though, he wasn't going to complain.

"I'll take it," Miner said.

He'll take his recent results, too.

"I feel I've been doing all right lately," he said. "It's just one of those things that as low as I was in the middle of April, there was really [only one way to go]."

That way was up. To get there, though, his sinker had to go down.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Fri Jun 13, 2008 11:13 am

Last year, Zach Miner (right) saw his father, Charlie, suffer a health
scare, and witnessed the birth of his son, Brady. (Courtesy of Miner
family)

06/13/2008 10:00 AM ET
Miner thankful for father's guidance
Pitcher remembers childhood practices with dad
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

DETROIT -- Zach Miner will never forget the first words he received from his dad when he saw him in the hospital last summer.

Charlie Miner had suddenly been hospitalized with an aneurysm in his aorta. Zach Miner had left the Tigers to return home to Florida. It was not surprising to him that his dad was fighting through it. Charlie couldn't talk at that point, so he wrote on a pad for his family.

For Zach, he wrote three simple words: Get to work.

Zach, of course, wasn't going anywhere. Charlie Miner taught his son a lot about what it takes to be a baseball player. But Zach also learned a lot from him about what it takes to be a father.

Like Zach, Charlie was a pitcher. He played college ball but didn't have a chance to pursue any Major League dreams. Zach developed those dreams himself, without any pushing, and his dad was there to help him along the way.

"That was probably his first love, and it just happened to be mine, too," Zach said. "It wasn't a situation where he pushed -- I probably pushed him to go out there with me. Pretty much growing up as a kid, all I wanted to do was play baseball. I played other sports, too, but any free time I had, I wanted to take grounders or hit or something."

So day in and day out, the Miners would be out with gloves, a ball and a bat. Whether or not Charlie was tired, he'd be out there for his son.

"He threw a lot of batting practice to me growing up, and a lot of grounders," Zach recalled. "Obviously, he helped out with the pitching, too, but most of the times I remember was hitting and taking grounders. That's what I really enjoyed doing a lot growing up."

The irony of all that work isn't lost on him now.

"I guess he ended up wasting most of that," Zach joked, "because I ended up being a pitcher."

Their time together, of course, was never really a waste. His dad was his biggest fan in addition to his bullpen catcher and batting practice pitcher, but he was also someone who was there for him in good times and bad. Zach still remembers playing in an all-star tournament in Florida at age 13 and being roughed up in a game for a loss.

At that time, Zach remembers, baseball meant everything to him, and he took a defeat like that hard. His dad was there to remind him it was still just a game.

"He always had a good way," Zach said. "Even to this day, as big of a baseball fan as he is, you always hear people say, 'Aren't you proud of Zach? He's a Major Leaguer.' He always will tell them, 'No, I'm proud of him for the son he was and the father he is.'"

Everything that happened last year, from his dad's health scare to becoming a father for the first time, reinforced that point to Zach. After finally finding a home in the Tigers bullpen and working his way back from the disabled list, his career became secondary when his father was hospitalized in July. He left the team to be with his dad for a brief period, and he eventually followed his dad's orders and got back to work. Still, his heart was in Florida.

Several Tigers have memories of Yankee Stadium, especially after their postseason series there two seasons ago. For Zach, it's the place where he was able to talk to his dad on the phone and hear his voice for the first time since the scare. He was in the visitors' dugout after a win, having just held the lead, but it didn't matter.

"I'll always remember that," he said. "It's one of the things I remember from last year from that trip. I was able to talk to him in his room. I struck out four guys, and at that point, I couldn't even care about what I'd just done. It was just cool to be able to talk to him."

Not only is Charlie doing well, he'll travel up to Detroit to spend this Father's Day weekend with his son and 1-year-old grandson, Brady, before Zach heads to the West Coast with the team. Brady, as his father likes to point out, doesn't care whether his dad's ERA is up or whether he struck out the other team's cleanup man with runners in scoring position. He only cares that his dad is there.

With his own dad back, moving around and playing with his grandson, Zach knows the feeling.

"Especially when you're a kid growing up, what you do is a lot of times the most important things in the world to you," Zach said. "You don't really have that perspective. I think the older you get, you realize. I was thinking about it earlier when I was really struggling. As good of a year as I had last year, if I would've ended the season with a terrible ERA, as long as your family's healthy, I wouldn't have traded those seasons for anything in the world. Just getting my tail kicked and everybody's good, healthy, happy, I'd much rather have a season like that."

And as he watches his son bounce around, he's reminded of what he must have put his dad through.

"I remember I threw a ball through our neighbor's car window when I was 6 and we were playing," Zach said. "Threw it and shattered his car window. My dad made me go over there and explain to the guy what happened. I was just mortified. Once you're a parent, you realize, I'm sure in the back of my dad's mind, he's like, 'Aw, who cares? He's playing baseball.'"

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Fri Jun 13, 2008 10:09 pm

No comments yet from bobrob?!
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Subject: Re: Zach Miner Sat Jun 14, 2008 4:44 am

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bow

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:26 am

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:45 am

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Sun Jul 06, 2008 5:44 am

Miner to focus on control issues

Zach Miner shook hands with Toledo manager Larry Parrish, hugged pitcher Virgil Vasquez, and was greeted by several other familiar faces in the Mud Hens' clubhouse yesterday.

Miner knows Toledo and Fifth Third Field well, but he undoubtedly wishes he wasn't here.

The Tigers optioned Miner, a right-handed pitcher, to the Hens Wednesday to iron out some recent control issues. Miner was with the Tigers in Minnesota and the Hens were in Columbus when the move was made, so all parties thought it best for Miner to rejoin the Hens when they returned home for last night's game against the Clippers.

"It is what it is," said Miner, who spent parts of 2005, '06, and '07 in Toledo. "I'm going to continue to try to get better and do whatever the coaches tell me to do."

Miner was replaced in Detroit by Aquilino Lopez, who was sent to Toledo last month to transition from reliever to starter. Miner too was a reliever with the Tigers and will join the Hens' starting rotation, but the circumstances are different.

Miner walked seven in his last three appearances (51/3 innings) with the Tigers, including four free passes last Tuesday night against the Twins.

"It was one of those days," he said. "Obviously, I didn't feel great out there, but I was trying to battle and make pitches where I could. The couple outings before that some of the walks were errors in judgment on my part, pitching around hitters I shouldn't have pitched around."

Miner was 3-3 with a 4.23 ERA in 32 relief outings for Detroit this year.

Parrish said Miner may pitch an inning or two in relief tonight and will make his first start Tuesday night against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

He is 10-5 with a 3.48 ERA in 26 games (23 starts) lifetime with the Hens.

"I know he needs to be more aggressive," Parrish said. "That's one of the things that's always haunted Zach. It's like he goes 3-2 on everybody. He got out of that a little bit when he was starting here. He was more aggressive and was pitching really well."
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bow

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Mon Jul 07, 2008 2:57 pm

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:15 am

Miner pitched last night. His line...

4 IP - 2 Hits - 0 ER - 1 BB - 5 K
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bow

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:18 am

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:18 am

Great Job Miner!!!
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"Contrary to what everybody else thinks, I still think I can come back and help this team."

Todd Jones on shoulder injury.

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Sun Jul 20, 2008 9:31 pm

Miner will start tomorrow. Here's an interview with Miner

NOTE: I was unable to get a hold of him for obvious reasons so I'll guess what he probably would say.

catbox: So, Zach, are you excited about the game tomorrow:
Miner: Well of course I am I....

catbox (interrupting): that's great. Listen, shut up for a second. How'd you feel about getting sent down?
Miner: Well I would have preferred not have been sent down. I work hard and would rather be here but I'm sure the team will do what's best.

catbox: We're all friends here, you can tell it like it is.
Miner: Oh, well in that case I was furious. I mean who do they think they are. I'm Zach (expletive) Miner for (expletive) sake!

catbox: Well someone had to go down though.
Miner: I appreciate that fact, but you do realize there's a guy, whose name I won't mention on the team. Let's call him....N. Robertson. No wait, that's too obvious, let's call him Nate R. He's on the team and the next good game he pitches will be his first. He makes 8 figures a year and I don't. I don't mean to brag, but I'm better than he is!

catbox: How do you think you'll do tomorrow.
Miner: Hopefully not too well otherwise Leyland will yank me prematurely. I hate getting yanked too soon.

catbox: That's about all I have to say. Thanks a lot.
Miner: No problem, catbox. Nice to see I still have some fans. For some reason most of the idiots out there don't like me and it really makes me sad. Luckily you and that guy bobrob2004 are smart enough to recognize talent. Next time you're in Detroit let me know and I'll hook you up with a suite at Comerica.
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Subject: Re: Zach Miner Sun Jul 20, 2008 9:39 pm

GO ZACH

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Mon Jul 21, 2008 4:35 am

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:52 am

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Mon Jul 21, 2008 7:04 am

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Mon Jul 21, 2008 5:25 pm

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Mon Jul 21, 2008 5:38 pm

Mrs. Rabelo...did you get your pic taken with Zach?
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There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:14 pm

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:23 pm

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:24 pm

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:25 pm

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:26 pm

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:27 pm

I'll say it... ZACH I Heart

YOU!!

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:29 pm

Subject: Re: Zach Miner Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:29 pm