Petr Minařík

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(Redirected from Petr Minarik)

PetrMinarik.JPG

Petr Minařík

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 4", Weight 203 lb.

Biographical Information[edit]

Petr Minařík has pitched for the Czech national team several times. He has led the Czech Extraliga in wins three times and in ERA.

Minařík was 0-3 with a 7.71 ERA for SB Rýchory in 2001, the season he turned 17, his Extraliga debut. In 2002, he was already 6-5 with a 2.43 ERA for SB Rýchory, tying for 6th in the league in wins, 4th in strikeouts (75), 8th in ERA and first in innings (92 2/3 IP). 7-1 with a 1.95 ERA for Draci Brno in 2003; he tied for second in the Extraliga in wins and was 7th in ERA. In the 2003 European Championship, he allowed 10 hits and 3 walks in 6 1/3 IP but escaped with a reasonable 4.26 ERA.

Petr had a 6-0, 0.84 record in 2004; he tied for second in the circuit in wins and was fifth in ERA. During the 2005 campaign, the young right-hander was 9-1 with a 1.34 ERA and struck out 85 in 80 1/3 IP. He tied teammate Radek Procházka for the win lead, was 8th in innings, was third in strikeouts and was third in ERA behind Petr Pacas and Jan Homolka.

His 6.75 ERA in the 2005 European Championship tied Zdeněk Kocman and Procházka for the highest mark on the Czech team. In the 2005 Baseball World Cup, Minařík gave up 7 hits, 3 walks and 8 runs in 4 1/3 innings while only striking out one, finding international players a tougher challenge than Czech hitters he was used to. His 16.62 ERA tied Boris Bokaj for second-worst on the Czech staff, better only than Jan Drábek.

In 2006, Minařík was 12-2 with a 1.51 ERA. He again led the Extraliga in victories and also led in innings (89 1/3) and strikeouts (85) while finishing 9th in ERA. He only pitched five games in 2007, going 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA. He still made the Czech squad for the 2007 European Championship, allowing one unearned run in four innings and saving a win over Austria.

Petr had a busy 2008, appearing in three international events as well as in the Extraliga. He went 8-3 with a save and a 1.74 ERA as Draci Brno continued its run of Extraliga pennants during his career; he was among the leaders in ERA (4th, behind Procházka, Martin Schneider and Jon-Jon Robles), innings (8th, 72 1/3), opponent OBP (4th, .274) and strikeouts (8th, 59).

In the 2008 European Cup in Regensburg, Minařík was 1-0 with a 2.16 ERA, beating out Russian entry MGPU SYOS 42. During the 2008 European Championship Qualifiers, he allowed no hits and one unearned run in 3 1/3 innings, fanning four as the Czech team won a spot in the 2010 European Championship. Petr also pitched in the 2008 World University Championship, going 0-2 but with a 2.45 ERA and .157 opponent average and shutting out Taiwan for five innings before the Taiwan team rallied for a 3-2 win. He allowed one run in two innings in the 2009 European Cup.

In 2009, he won the Extraliga ERA title (1.38), tied for 4th in wins (with Homolka, Leoš Kubát and Jakub Toufar) and was 7th with 65 strikeouts (between Jakub Jonák and Daniel Mráz). He was 3-0 with a 1.45 ERA in the postseason, which he led in wins and was 4th in ERA. Draci Brno won its 7th straight title since he had joined them. He also won Pitcher of the Year honors. During the 2009 Baseball World Cup, things did not turn out as well as he gave up 9 hits, 2 walks and 10 runs (2 earned) in 1 2/3 IP in a start against Taiwan; Jan Řeháček, Bokaj and Toufar pitched shutout ball the rest of the way but the hole was too big to dig out of.

Minařík went 9-0 with a 2.57 ERA in 2010, leading the league in wins, finishing 7th in strikeouts (50) and 6th in ERA (between Kubát and Marek Červenka). He tied for the second-best record in Extraliga history, behind Roman Yatsuk's 11-0 in 2006. He was 1-2 with a 1.80 ERA in the postseason. In the 2010 European Cup, he was 0-1 with a 5.14 ERA, losing to Germany's Heidenheim club. He was excellent in the 2010 European Championship at 2-0, 0.73 on a staff that was otherwise 1-3. He allowed one run in 8 to beat Belgium and Kenny Vandenbranden and tossed 4 1/3 shutout relief innings in the 7th/8th place game win over Great Britain. He went 2-1 despite a 8.38 ERA in the 2010 Intercontinental Cup; the rest of the staff was 0-3. He allowed 10 hits and 8 runs in 2 innings in being toasted by Cuba but then beat Hong Kong and Thailand. He was among the event leaders (which did not include the final day of placement games) in wins (tied for first with Dalier Hinojosa, David Bergman and Orlando Yntema) and strikeouts (tied for first with Yulieski González).

In 2011, he was 8-4 with a 3.56 ERA for Draci Brno, finishing 6th in wins and was 1-2 with a 2.35 ERA in the postseason as they fell short of a title for the first time in his career. He reached 538 career strikeouts, passing Michal Kočí's 527 for third in Extraliga history (statistical records going back to 1995). He was 1-1 with a 6.35 ERA in the 2011 European Cup, beating the Rouen Huskies but losing to host Cariparma Parma.

Minařík was 7-4 with a 2.60 ERA in 2012 and was among the league leaders in complete games (3, tied for 3rd with Červenka), wins (tied for 4th with Pat Ahearne), IP (4th, between Matěj Hušek and Martin Drong), strikeouts (59, 5th, between Červenka and Bradley Merritt) and ERA (6th, between Josh Edwards and Červenka). He led the postseason with3 wins (against one loss) and had a 4.85 ERA as Draci Brno rebounded to win the title. In the 2012 European Cup, he struggled (0-1, 8.38, 9 H, 7 BB in 9 2/3 IP) and took a loss against the Paderborn Untouchables. In the 2012 European Championship, he tossed nine shutout innings, allowing six hits. He had a four-inning save to finish Toufar's win over Belgium and worked five in relief of Červenka in a 3-0 loss to Italy.

During the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, he was toasted badly. Relieving Michal Sobotka with a 5-1 deficit against Germany, he retired only two while allowing a single to Aaron Altherr, walks to Simon Gühring and ]]Kai Gronauer]] and a grand slam to Matt Weaver. He had the team's highest ERA, double Marek Minařík, the next-highest. In the 2013 Extraliga, he was 6-1 with a 4.66 ERA, tying Tomáš Duffek for 6th in wins. He had a 7.15 ERA and no decisions in the postseason as Draci Brno defended their title. He moved into second in league history in strikeouts with 635, passing Jakub Vančura's 611. He allowed two runs in seven innings against Telemarket Rimini in an upset win and threw a shutout inning of relief in another game.

Minařík was 5-1 with a 4.22 ERA in the 2014 regular season, tying T.J. Macy for 8th in IP (64). He was 0-2 with a 5.19 ERA in the 2014 European Cup, losing to Rimini and to DOOR Neptunus. He was 2-1 with a 2.51 ERA in the Extraliga postseason as Draci Brno won the title. Through 2014, he was 9th in Extraliga history in winning percentage (only 15 decisions needed; with a higher cutoff he would have been higher), still 2nd in strikeouts (687, 62 behind Kubát) and 10th in ERA (2.57; another low cut-off with 125 IP required). The Extraliga does not post career win leaders in their annual reports but he was almost definitely near the top of that leaderboard. In the 2014 European Championship, he was 1-0 with a 2.35 ERA, beating Greece (2 R, 1 ER in 6 IP) but struggling in relief against Germany (6 H, 1 R in 1 2/3 IP).

He fell just short of his 4th win title in 2015, going 9-1 with a 2.72 ERA, tying Duffek for second in wins (one behind Jan Tomek). He was 5th in ERA (between Marek Bošanský and John Hussey), 6th in IP (76, between Tomek and Jakub Černík), 4th in opponent slugging (.300), 4th in opponent OBP (between Hussey and Tomek) and tied Bokaj and Mráz for 7th in strikeouts. He was 2-2 with a 2.70 ERA in the postseason as Draci Brno failed to take the title for only the second time since he joined them. He was 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA in the 2015 European Cup, allowing 2 runs (one earned) in four innings in a loss to Leonel Campos and Templiers Senart and allowed one run in two innings against Neptunus.

In March 2016, he appeared in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. Relieving Schneider with a 15-2 lead in the 7th, he only had to prevent four runs to make it a mercy rule win, though he had done that poorly in the qualifiers against Germany four years prior. He retired Gühring, gave up a single to Donald Lutz, got Ludwig Glaser on a liner, served up a RBI double to Bruce Maxwell then got Chris Howard on a grounder to end the game. His 9.00 ERA for the event was the highest for the Czechs, his second straight qualifier in that role; Schneider and Červenka were next at 6.00.

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