ARLINGTON -- A word of advice: It's probably best not to tell Mike Minor he's ill-equipped to accomplish something.

A high school teacher tried it once.

"He told me to play all the sports I can now, because I wasn't going to play anymore after high school," Minor said Tuesday after authoring the Rangers' first home complete game shutout since 2015 with a 5-0 win over Los Angeles. "I feel like I've accomplished a lot, but I've always been told that I can't."

The latest "you can't," came when the Rangers named him their No. 1 starter for the season.

The general consensus: Minor was the opening day starter for a pitching-thin team, but, with just one season and 157 innings as a starter since 2015, he couldn't be viewed as an ace caliber starter.

I asked Minor about this view before the season started. He smiled sharply. And answered pointedly: "I think [former outfielder] Jayson Werth put it best: 'They can kiss my ..."

His on-the-mound answer has been even more direct. After fumbling with command on opening day, Minor has shown off one of the most deceptive fastballs in the majors, a refined breaking ball and more unpredictable pitching patterns.

As a result, he's had three consecutive starts of at least seven innings, the last being Tuesday's three-hit, 102-pitch shutout. It was the first by an AL pitcher this season. It was the first complete game win of Minor's career. He ranks among the top 10 in the AL in innings (272/3), ERA (2.60), batting average allowed (.188) and WHIP (0.94). For the first month of the season anyway, he has pitched very much like a No. 1 without any qualifiers needed.

If there was any doubt about how much he's pitching like a No. 1, consider this: The rumor mill about his relative trade appeal has already started. USA Today's Bob Nightengale tweeted Tuesday that the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies were "showing serious interest" in Minor. The Rangers fielded a number of calls in the offseason and into spring training about Minor, but three sources said Wednesday that there hasn't been any recent conversation.

And, if it does get to that point, the Rangers will have to consider whether anybody is offering the kind of return for a top-of-the-rotation pitcher. In other words: a significant haul. That's more likely a summertime conversation.

For now, there is the emergence of Mike Minor, dominant starter.

"He's got a lot of weapons to go to and they are all going in different directions," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. "I think a big part of it is just conviction. He wanted to be the No. 1 guy. He said he didn't like that people didn't think that he could be. He's taken ownership of it."

Said Minor: "I've always pitched with a chip on my shoulder. I think most people should. If you don't, you are just comfortable and it is going to catch up with you."

A year ago, in his return to the rotation after three years of shoulder problems and pitching from the bullpen, Minor wasn't comfortable. He wanted to pitch deeper into games, to be freed from the shackles of arbitrary pitch limits and to demonstrate he could, pardon the pun, shoulder a heavier load. This season, the Rangers are giving him the opportunity.

He has returned with a fastball that is averaging 2,654 rpms. It's the second-highest spin rate for a fastball among MLB starters this season. It's up about 100 rpms over last year. The higher the spin rate, the sharper the late movement on the pitch and the more difficult it is to recognize.

In addition, he's rolled out a more defined changeup. This year, he's been using the changeup 24.3% of the time, up from 18% last year. And he's using his slider and curve ball almost equally (15.4% and 13.8%). All of that has brought the fastball usage down just a tick, which makes him all the more difficult to figure out.

Consider the Angels' plight Tuesday. After it became clear Minor had a good changeup working, the Angels backed off their swings and seemed to be holding back. Minor and catcher Jeff Mathis, who has worked all four of his starts, picked up on it quickly and went back heavily to the fastball for a couple of quick innings.

"Mathis helped a lot with what he put down," Minor said. "A lot of credit goes to him."

And to Minor, also.

Or to whoever suggested he couldn't pitch like a No. 1.

Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant