How Rookie Michael Fulmer Established Himself as the Tigers' New Ace

With his dark, bushy beard and six-foot-three barrel-chested frame, Detroit Tigers rookie Michael Fulmer was an immediate presence on the mound this year merely by virtue of his appearance. But Fulmer could pitch, too. From May 21st to June 17th, he accumulated a 33.3-inning scoreless streak that established him as a leading candidate for American League Rookie of the Year.

Fulmer has since shaved the beard, and now, with about two weeks to go in the regular season, his 3.03 ERA, among the best in the AL, is helping the Tigers compete for a playoff berth. It would be their fifth postseason appearance in six years. They have come to depend on the 23-year-old Fulmer like they already do with staff ace Justin Verlander, and used to on the likes of Max Scherzer and David Price.

"This is a dream come true and my only goal in life, really," Fulmer said during a recent interview with VICE Sports at Kauffman Stadium.

Fulmer has quickly endeared himself to teammates. Too many kids these days, veteran infielder Ian Kinsler says, are spoiled by organizations eager to make them more "comfortable" than prepared for life in the majors.

"Honestly, it's refreshing to see somebody that wants to get better and learn from people around him, as opposed to somebody trying to do it all on his own," Kinsler said. "There's a lot of entitlement in this game.

"He's aware of what's going on around him," Kinsler added. "He truly listens to what people think he needs to do to get better. And he tries to apply whatever he thinks will make him better."

Fulmer arrived in Detroit from the Mets, along with Luis Cessa, in a trade for Yoenis Cespedes last July. He competed for a bullpen job in spring training, but instead was optioned to Triple-A on March 18th. The Tigers were not in a rush to promote him, even though he was ranked as a top-100 prospect. Sparkling scouting reports aside, Fulmer had compiled barely 380 innings in the minors, and pitched no more than 124.6 in any one season. He never has had arm trouble (he had knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus in 2013) but because of his inexperience, the Tigers have been monitoring his workload. After being called up to the majors on April 29th, Fulmer is on pace to finish with enough innings to qualify for the ERA title (162), but he'll just barely make it.

"We're going to try and protect him," manager Brad Ausmus said.

While Detroit isn't putting a hard cap on Fulmer's innings, and were never planning to shut him down early, the Tigers have been giving him extra rest between starts, which changes his routine and forces him to adapt.

Fulmer throws one of the ten or so hardest fastballs in the league, a 96-mile-per-hour four-seamer. His slider acts like "a razor blade," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons has said. And the changeup Fulmer developed while tinkering on the fly at the behest of pitching coach Rich Dubee is widely believed to have prompted his scoreless streak, which stands as a rookie record for the Tigers and the longest for the franchise since 1961.

"It's trial and error, but fortunately with his changeup he had some real good success right away so that made it easier for him to stick with it," Dubee said. "He understands there's going to be times when he's going to have to make some adjustments, and the league will start to make adjustments to him. He's aware of those things. He's got a high baseball I.Q. He's a good student."

Most successful starting pitchers in the majors, Dubee said, utilize three or even four different pitches. Improving his changeup was necessary for Fulmer, who relied on his fastball and slider in the minors, to survive as a major league starter, much less dominate.

"Even though Michael's a power guy, he understood that he needed it," Dubee said. "Again, that baseball I.Q. allowed him to commit himself to doing what he had to do. He picked it up pretty quickly and he started throwing a bunch of them when he got good results."

Fulmer said that the former Cy Young–winning Verlander has also been available to help.

"He answers all my questions—and I have a lot of them," Fulmer said.

Throughout my career. — Michael Fulmer (@MFulmer12)June 26, 2012

"He's not afraid to make changes," Verlander said. "You see that with his changeup. But even in spring training, you saw his mentality on the mound: he's not afraid; he attacks. You don't see that in a lot of guys the first time up. Also, with success comes confidence.

"He reminds me a lot of myself, in a way, when I've talked to him about what I went through as a rookie," Verlander, the 2006 AL Rookie of the Year, added. "We've talked about mistakes that I remember making, things that I could tell him about."

Ever since he was a boy growing up in the Oklahoma City area, Fulmer's only goal was to become a major league ballplayer. Though he was a curious student, Fulmer really had no other goal. He made no backup plans in case baseball didn't work out.

"Not really, honestly," said Fulmer. Fortunately, the Mets made him the 44th overall pick in 2011 out of high school.

But Fulmer can get away from baseball when needed. In past offseasons, he told ESPN, he has worked with a buddy digging ditches and replacing sewer lines. It's extra money in his pocket (Fulmer is years away from arbitration and free agency), plus exercise, and it allows him to take a break from thinking about how to make himself a better ballplayer.

Fulmer's first game without his beard, September 3rd against the Royals, began with highly efficient dominance. He retired nine of his first ten batters, throwing 22 of 27 pitches for strikes, and had a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning. Only when Kansas City's Cheslor Cuthbert worked the count were the Royals able to start a rally. With a 3-2 count, Cuthbert lined a double to right after a fastball down the middle, and Eric Hosmer followed with a two-run homer after Fulmer didn't get another fastball in enough. The next inning, Fulmer threw Cuthbert a flat slider that was lined for an RBI single. Not many mistakes, perhaps three, but enough to take a loss on a night when the Tigers didn't generate much offense.

Not that there's necessarily a connection to performance but … any regrets about shaving the beard?

"Not at all. Just wanted to do something different. It feels better now, I'll say that," Fulmer said, aware of Kansas City's infamous late-summer heat.

Fulmer has slumped recently, allowing 20 earned runs over 28.6 innings. His slider and changeup, both of which had stopped working in starts against the Red Sox and the Angels in late August, were better against the Royals. Fulmer credited a mechanical adjustment made during a bullpen session with Dubee. But he's still not back to his early dominance. He has a 6.28 ERA over his past five starts.

"I don't know if they're necessarily attacking him differently," Ausmus said. "They're just more familiar with him, with the movement on his pitches, his arm slot. It's really incumbent on him, if things don't go the way he likes, to make the adjustment."

Despite his recent struggles, Fulmer remains the front-runner for Rookie of the Year, with sluggers Tyler Naquin of the Indians, Max Kepler of the Twins, and even Gary Sanchez of the Yankees among his principal competition.

Dubee says Fulmer has a chance to be as good or better than others he has coached through the years at Philadelphia and Miami, naming pitchers like A.J. Burnett, J.A. Happ, and Cole Hamels.

"Being around some of the veterans, especially Verlander, is good for him and he's using it very well," Dubee said.

Kinsler suspects the clean-shaven Fulmer won't rest on his laurels, even if he earns individual awards this offseason.

"Baseball is very humbling and it can humble you quickly," Kinsler said. "You see Rookies of the Year and they're out of the game in the next four years. You've always got to try to improve yourself. This game's difficult. I think Michael's got the makeup to do that. He's going to be a lot of fun to watch."

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