Detroit Tigers’ Chris Fetter removes name from consideration for Michigan baseball job

Detroit Free Press

Pitching coach Chris Fetter is staying with the Detroit Tigers.

Fetter, courted by the University of Michigan to become the head coach of the baseball program, recently told manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Al Avila that he has taken his name out of consideration and will continue working in the big leagues, Hinch told reporters in Boston on Tuesday.

The 36-year-old, who lives in Ann Arbor, was considered the top candidate to take over as Michigan’s head coach, after longtime head coach Erik Bakich departed for Clemson.

Bakich officially joined Clemson on June 16.

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Fetter played baseball for Michigan and graduated in 2009. He served as Michigan’s pitching coach from July 2017 until November 2020. That’s when Hinch hired Fetter as the Tigers’ pitching coach.

The Tigers had the worst starting rotation in baseball in 2020, before Fetter’s arrival, with a 6.37 ERA. Since then, the rotation posted a 4.17 ERA (15th in MLB) in 2021 and has a 4.69 ERA (23rd) so far in 2022.

The entire pitching staff — combining the rotation and bullpen — has a 4.02 ERA this season, which ranks 18th in the majors.

The bullpen ranks sixth with a 3.19 ERA.

In 2021, the Tigers lost a pair of assistant coaches to head coaching jobs at their alma maters: third base coach Chip Hale to Arizona and assistant hitting coach Jose Cruz Jr. to Rice.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.

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