Vanderbilt LHP Mike Minor has started to heat up during his last few outings.  While his line score didn't look the best from last Friday's game against Florida (7 IP, 12 H, 5 R (4 ER), 9 K, 0 BB), his stuff and command looked a lot better than the two previous times I have seen him this spring.

Minor's fastball sat mostly in the 88-91 range, although he did touch 92 and 93 a few times in the early innings.  He was still hitting 91 by the sixth and seventh innings, and consistently works at 89-90 miles per hour.

He was around the zone all day long with all of his pitches (as shown by 0 walks in seven innings), and showed me what enamored me to him in the past: The ability to carve up a lineup by changing speeds and using the entire strike zone. His best pitch has always been his changeup, a perfect complement to his fastball thrown with the exact same delivery and arm speed, clocking in the low-80s.

Minor also showed a good curveball this day, as his breaking pitch is the one pitch he has struggled to master over the years.  He ditched a slider in favor for a curve over the last year, and while it does have very good break, his arm does noticeably slow down, tipping the pitch.  It isn’t surprising that when he did get hit hard it was his curveball that was getting smoked, particularly the second time through the lineup.

While I hate making excuses for metal bats, I do think several of the hits against him would have been recorded as outs if the batters were swinging the lumber.  Two of the runs he allowed in the fifth inning came courtesy of a pair of infield dribblers that likely would have jammed the batters a lot more than they did, while two more runs came in the seventh on a fly ball that looked like a shallow pop-up off of the bat, yet carried to deep right-centerfield for a double.

Earlier this season I wondered if Minor had lost his touch, but now that he appears to be back on track, he should re-affirm his status as a mid-first round draft pick.  He’s a good pitcher with his fastball and changeup alone, and could be a great one if he continues to improve his breaking pitch.

While Vanderbilt has lost a lot of star power in the last two drafts, and will likely lose another one this year in Minor, Head Coach Tim Corbin should help the Commodores remain a national contender for years to come.  The team has plenty of good things to look forward to, with a very talented freshman class.  Freshman third baseman Jason Esposito in particular is a name to watch the next few years.

Esposito arrived at Vanderbilt with some pretty big shoes to fill, those of Pedro Alvarez, the second overall pick in last year's draft.  While Esposito is raw and needs to work on all facets of his game, he is an exciting athlete with immense potential.  He hit a home run in Friday's game, and looked an awful lot like Ryan Braun in doing so, with a lightning quick bat, a big swing and extension to go along with a high level of cockiness in doing so (he definitely took him time to start his trot to first base to admire his handiwork).