Michael Fulmer took the mound for the Tigers in the eighth inning Tuesday night in Minnesota and did what he's been doing all season. He threw up a zero. Then he passed the baton to Gregory Soto for what should have been a 5-4 Tigers win.
Fulmer has been throwing up zeroes like it's his job -- it is!! -- since midway through last season. In the process, the pitcher who won Rookie of the Year in 2016 and went to the All-Star Game in 2017 as a starter has become one of the best relievers in baseball. This is no exaggeration.
In 35 outings since returning from a cervical spine strain last July, Fulmer has kept the offense off the board in all but three. His ERA over that span is 1.21, sixth in the bigs among relievers with at least 30 outings and second in the American League to only Raisel Iglesias, the Angels closer who garnered Cy Young votes last season. It gets better.
In his last 24 outings dating back to last August, Fulmer has been spotless in all but one. His ERA over that span is 0.35, second in the bigs among relievers with at least 20 outings and first in the AL. Only Brewers All-Star Josh Hader, who hasn't allowed a single run in his last 30 outings, has been better. It gets better still.
Entering Wednesday, Fulmer has posted 19 scoreless outings in a row dating back to Sept. 5 of last season. As you may have noticed, that's the longest active streak in the AL. It's also the longest such streak for a Tigers pitcher since Al Alburquerque went 22 straight games from July 2011 to September 2012. Yeah, Fulmer is throwing up zeroes like no Tigers pitcher in the last 10 seasons.
It's hard to get better than that.
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