COMING UP BIG
Oklahoma native Michael Fulmer could have a big impact on the MLB Playoffs
Michael Fulmer remembers watching Justin Verlander pitch during his Cy Young season.
Fulmer was still in high school at Deer Creek when Verlander’s grand season began, but like the pro, the prepster was a tall and trim right-handed pitcher with a powerful fastball and a big arsenal. Fulmer loved watching the way Verlander played. The way he worked through batters. The way he acted on the mound.
“He was one of my favorite pitchers,” Fulmer said.
Now, Verlander is one of his teammates.
Only five years after seeing Verlander’s greatness on TV, Fulmer sees him every day in the Detroit Tigers’ clubhouse. Fulmer is a rookie sensation who has become the team’s No. 2 pitcher behind Verlander.
Postseason accolades are sure to come.
But there’s important baseball to play before that happens. The Tigers enter the final week of the regular season with a shot at getting one of the American League Wild Card spots, and even though they have been as hot as any team save the Red Sox, there are five teams with a legitimate shot at two spots.
Fulmer, though, will have a say-so in what happens. He pitched seven solid innings Friday in a win against Kansas City, and he is expected to throw again this week against Cleveland.
And should the Tigers get one of those wild cards, Fulmer will be in line to start.
The reasons he is in this position are many. He counts his Oklahoma upbringing and his Deer Creek baseball education prime among them. But Fulmer also gives a lot of credit to Verlander, his idol in adolescence and his teammate of today.
Fulmer started this season in the minor leagues. After being sent from the Mets to the Tigers last summer as part of the Yoenis Cespedes trade, Fulmer was ranked by MLB Pipeline as Detroit’s top prospect. He competed for a spot in the big club’s rotation and bullpen during spring training, but neither materialized.
But less than a month into the season, a finger blister on righty Shane Greene’s hand necessitated a replacement in the Tigers’ rotation. Fulmer got the call up. “I thought I was only going to be up here for a couple starts,” Fulmer said via telephone from Detroit earlier this month.
But one start became two became three became a scoreless innings streak that had baseball buzzing. Starting in late May, Fulmer went deep into June without allowing a run. The streak: 33 1/3 innings. It was the second-longest stretch of scoreless innings by a rookie pitcher in the last 45 years. The only rookie to go longer was Fernando Valenzuela, who had a 35-inning scoreless stretch in 1981.
Fulmer was drawing comparisons to Jake Arrieta and the dominance that the Cubs’ ace had last season.
Fulmer, only 23 years old, made the move to the majors look simple, but he insists his successes weren’t his alone. The support of coaches and teammates eased the transition — and no one was more supportive than Verlander.
“He takes time to answer all my questions,” Fulmer said. “I feel like I’m annoying him sometimes.” Fulmer chuckled. “But he always takes time to answer and help me out with anything he can.”
Truth be told, Verlander has often been the one seeking out Fulmer. As soon as Fulmer comes into the dugout and sits down on the bench after a start is done, Verlander is regularly the first person to sit down beside him. The veteran wants to know how the rookie feels, what he thinks he did well, what he thinks he could’ve done better.
“Just being able to talk to a guy like that who’s been around for 10-plus years, it’s truly a blessing,” Fulmer said. “It’s truly amazing to get to just pick his brain a little bit. “It’s awesome, yeah.” But it’s been transformational, too. Verlander helped Fulmer develop a shoulder routine, a regimen of exercises, stretches and lifts that not only strengthens his shoulder but also helps prevent injury.
Verlander told Fulmer that he didn’t have a shoulder routine when he broke into the majors in 2005. While Verlander avoided significant injuries, he quickly realized how important it was to take care of his rotator cuff, his ligaments and his muscles in his shoulder.
He didn’t just share his routine with Fulmer — Verlander pushed him to do it and do it right.
“I think that’s one of the main reasons I’m still pitching now,” Fulmer said.
So far this season, though, Fulmer has handled everything like a veteran.
He is 11-7 with a 2.95 ERA, which ranks best in the AL.
Fulmer has thrown 155 2/3 innings, and if he pitches 162 innings or more, he’ll qualify for the AL ERA title. The last rookie to lead the league in ERA was another Tiger, the legendary Mark Fidrych, in 1976.
Fulmer is not only the frontrunner for AL Rookie of the Year but also a serious contender for the Cy Young.
Still, Michael Fulmer refuses to focus on self.
“I don’t think, ‘Wow, I got myself here,’ ” he said. “Baseball’s a very team-oriented game. I wouldn’t be here without my teammates and coaches.”
He’s talking about those in the past who crossed his path in Oklahoma and at Deer Creek as well as those in the present who share the clubhouse with him every day.
That includes a former Cy Young winner who might just be helping a future one.