Minor allowed four runs on six hits and one walk while striking out two over three-plus innings Thursday against the Padres.

EDGE Analysis

Minor allowed one run over the first three innings before running into fourth-inning trouble and left when he hit his pitch count. In a sign that he's feeling stronger this season, the left-hander threw more than a dozen curveballs, about 20 percent of his 67 pitches, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. The hook represented just 10 percent of his offerings last season. "I want to spread things out a little more this year," Minor said. "I feel like I'm ahead of where I was at this point last year. My breaking ball has gotten a little better each time out. It was non-existent last year [in spring training]." If Minor can make the curveball work for him as a swing-and-miss pitch, he could improve on the 7.6 K/9 he had as a starter in 2018.