DETROIT — Part of what made Justin Verlander’s American League MVP season in 2011 feel so dominant was that after his no-hitter in Toronto that May, he had a long stretch into the summer where he held opponents hitless through the early and middle innings on a regular basis.
Reese Olson is nowhere near that stage; he hasn’t thrown a complete game yet, let alone a no-hitter. But the Tigers’ rookie right-hander is making a habit of holding opponents hitless through the first half of a game, often enough to create intrigue, and more than enough think that someday, Olson might be able to carry a no-hit bid a little while longer and take a shot to join Verlander, Spencer Turnbull, Jack Morris and others in Tigers history.
Considering where he was early in the year, struggling at Triple-A Toledo, it’s quite a leap.
“He’s laying the foundation of a very, very good pitcher at this level,” manager A.J. Hinch said after Thursday’s 8-2 win over the Reds at Comerica Park. “And I’m not certain he even knew that was possible at the beginning of the year, with how his year started.”
Thursday marked the second consecutive start and the third time in 19 starts for Detroit this year that Olson held his opponents hitless through the first five innings.
“It’s one of those things where you obviously know what’s going on,” Olson said. “But when you get out there for the next inning, it’s not even a thought.”
He might not be thinking about it, but his teammates are certainly aware.
“He’s been incredible,” said Matt Vierling, whose eighth-inning grand slam broke the game open. “He’s young, and he looks even younger than he is. And he just goes out there every time, and you know you’re going to get a good chance to win. He’s going to put up some quality innings. He’s been phenomenal for his first year.”
The previous two hitless bids came against the White Sox, including a hard-luck loss last Friday. Thursday’s gem came against a dangerous Reds lineup that can strike big on young pitchers and entered Thursday just outside the top 10 among Major League clubs in weighted on-base average against sliders, the high-spin pitch that Olson used to wow hitters and observers early in the year.
Olson turned the tables on them, not just in pitch mix, but results. Despite seven strikeouts over six innings, he drew just four swings and strikes, one each off his fastball, slider, changeup and curve. Three of those whiffs secured a strikeout. But he drew 20 called strikes, eight off a fastball he has learned to command on the corners, six off a slider that he can throw nowadays for strikes as well as for chase.
“He was locating his pitches perfectly,” Reds manager David Bell said. “We did hit some balls hard, obviously not hard enough. We had some decent at-bats, but give him credit. He really located, especially at the bottom of the zone, and their catcher did a nice job, too.”
The command wasn’t perfect, evidenced by four walks, two to Elly De La Cruz. The resulting pitch count meant he wasn’t likely to go beyond six innings even if he was still holding Cincinnati hitless. Jake Fraley’s soft line drive into center field for a leadoff single in the sixth took care of that. Olson quickly erased him on a double-play comebacker from Nick Martini, but Spencer Steer’s ensuing home run spoiled the scoreless performance.
Olson finished with one run on two hits over six innings. He has allowed four runs on 11 hits over 24 innings in his past four starts with nine walks and 23 strikeouts, lowering his ERA for the season by almost a full run, from 5.29 to 4.30.
He has become a consistent starter in a stretch where the Tigers’ rotation has been in flux, from Matt Manning’s broken foot to Alex Faedo’s move to the bullpen.
“On a this-year basis,” Hinch said, “he’s been very important to take down some innings and be reliable, get some swing-and-miss when he needs it, get some ground balls when he needs it, stay in the game five, six [innings], get into the seventh for the first time in his career. But as a whole, it’s more important for him to learn all this for the next version of him, as he matures and learns from this year how he can impact a pitching staff.”