Minneapolis — The latest indication that Michael Fulmer’s role may have changed came Monday night when manager AJ Hinch summoned Wily Peralta to pitch the seventh inning after the Tigers had tied the Twins.
Before Tuesday, Fulmer hadn’t pitched since last Wednesday in Tampa and that wasn’t a leverage situation. He hadn’t pitched in leverage since May 16 when he blew a save but ultimately got the win against the Rays.
“Some of it is matchups and some of it is letting Michael work through it,” Hinch said. “I told him I’m not going to lose faith in him. But obviously, we need him to pitch better to continue to get leverage innings.”
Fulmer was asked before the game Tuesday about his lack of work recently.
“I just haven’t had my name called,” Fulmer said. “Everything is feeling good. AJ has his reasons and I respect them. I talked to him the other day in Cleveland. I told him, ‘I know we haven’t talked much about my personal performance over the last couple of weeks, but I just want to let you know I’ve got no doubt it’ll be back.’
“I’m working on things now and I feel like I’m just a tick away.”
Fulmer, after starting the season with 10 straight scoreless outings, has hit a rough patch. In his last five outings he’s allowed six runs, eight hits and issued six walks. Hitters are batting .381 with a 1.167 OPS in that stretch.
His velocity on his sinker is down to 93.4 mph, roughly 2.5 mph less than last season. Same for his four-seam fastball, sitting 93.4, down from 95.3 last year. He’d been living off his slider, which is holding hitters to a .148 average. But hitters haven’t been biting on it as much in recent outings.
“Everything feels good, we’re just trying to make some tweaks here and there,” Fulmer said. “It’s a simple fix. I’ve been doing this for almost seven years now. You don’t just lose it. Whether it was the offseason (lockout) or the short spring, whatever it was, you have to adapt, adjust and fix things.
“Sometimes you don’t know what those fixes are and you have to feel your way through it. The only way to do it is to judge it off results and your stuff and numbers in the game.”
More: Tigers, AJ Hinch continue to seek healing on and off the ball field
Don’t misunderstand. Fulmer doesn’t expect Hinch to just keep throwing him out there with wins at stake. He knows he has to earn that role back.
“I look at it this way, Andrew Chafin and Alex Lange have been throwing the ball lights-out,” Fulmer said. “Those two guys right now are putting us in the best position to win with (Gregory) Soto, of course. And JoJo (Jimenez) is throwing the ball well. All I care about is winning.
“If I got a little tweak I need to work on and get my stuff back, we’ve got more than enough guys to step up and take those big roles.”
True pro.
About Lange
And if you haven’t been paying attention, Lange has been outstanding all season, allowing three runs in 16⅔ innings with 21 strikeouts and a .143 opponent average against.
“He’s been unbelievable so far this year,” Fulmer said. “His stuff is nasty. I play catch with him every day, hurting my hand with his change-up. I can’t catch it. He’s going to be an elite closer, one of the best in the game, and I’m not just saying that because he’s on my team.”
More than ever, Lange has been pitching off his wicked curveball and his firm 89-90-mph change-up, which he throws predominantly off his power sinker (96 mph) and can manipulate to fade like a screwball to left-handed hitters.
Hitters are 1-for-25 off his curveball with 14 strikeouts and a 62% whiff rate, and 3-for-15 off his change-up with a 50% whiff rate.
“I’m just comfortable throwing any pitch in any count,” Lange said. “I feel like the hitters in this league are so good, you have to be able to execute good pitches in any count. Having that third pitch, they can’t sit speed, they can’t sit breaking ball — they can’t sit on any one pitch.”
Lange’s 45% swing-and-miss rate is the best in baseball and his 33% chase rate is in the upper 83 percentile.
“His stuff is unbelievable right now,” Fulmer said. “The way he attacks guys, doesn’t walk many, punches a lot of guys out. Everyone has confidence when he’s in the game right now. If he’s pitching meaningful innings for us it means we’ve got a good chance to win.”
Another setback?
It was supposed to be the final rehab start for right-hander Matt Manning, who has been out since April 17 with shoulder inflammation. If things went well, he was expected return to the Tigers rotation next week.
It did not go well. He was pulled after throwing 30 pitches in the second inning at Toledo, allowing a couple of hits with two walks. In 1⅔ innings, he threw 43 pitches and 25 strikes.
There was no apparent injury, but he didn’t have the same shape or sharpness on his pitches in the second inning.
Around the horn
Television alert: The Tigers-Twins finale Wednesday afternoon will be broadcast on YouTube television.
… Left-hander Tyler Alexander (elbow sprain) is expected to throw to hitters in a live batting practice session in Lakeland later this week.
… The Tigers have set their pitching rotation for the series against Cleveland at Comerica Park this weekend — Tarik Skubal on Thursday, Alex Faedo on Friday, Elvin Rodriguez on Saturday and Beau Brieske on Sunday.
cmccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky
Tigers at Twins
First pitch: 1:10 p.m. Wednesday, Target Field, Minneapolis
TV/radio: YouTube/97.1
SCOUTING REPORT
RHP Rony Garcia (0-0, 2.57), Tigers: This will be a bullpen game, so Garcia won’t go more than three innings. But he’s been dependable. In 7⅔ innings this month he’s allowed two runs and struck out 12 with just one walk.
RHP Dylan Bundy (3-2, 5.14), Twins: This will be his second start after coming off the COVID-IL. He was limited to three innings and 54 pitches last in his last start at Oakland. A flamethrower earlier in his career, the average velocity on his four-seam and sinker has been under 90 mph this season and his slider has been getting hit (.357 average, .571 slugging).