Rain delay costs rookie Michael Fulmer his chance at the AL ERA title
Fulmer could have become the first rookie ERA leader in 40 years if not for a rough inning and a delay
By
Mike Axisa
•
1 min read
Wednesday night, Tigers rookie Michael Fulmer needed to throw at least 6 1/3 innings against the Indians to qualify for the ERA title. He went into the game with 155 2/3 innings on the season, and it takes 162 innings -- one per team game, more precisely -- to qualify for the league ERA title.
Because of a lengthy rain delay, plus a rough first inning, Fulmer was only able to complete 3 1/3 innings Wednesday night. He also threw 78 pitches in those 3 1/3 innings, so it's unlikely he would have been able to get through 6 1/3 innings anyway.
Fulmer went into Wednesday's game with a 2.95 ERA, lowest in the AL. Had he recorded those 6 1/3 innings Wednesday, Fulmer would have become the first rookie to lead the league in ERA since Mark Fidrych had a 2.34 ERA in 250 1/3 innings for the 1976 Tigers.
Overall, Fulmer has a 3.06 ERA in 159 total innings this season, which would tie Blue Jays righty Aaron Sanchez for the lowest ERA in the AL had he picked up those 6 1/3 innings needed to qualify. Fulmer is currently lined up to pitch the Wild Card Game, should the Tigers make it.
Perhaps if the Tigers are eliminated from the postseason race, they would let Fulmer pitch in relief in Game 162 on Sunday to get those final three innings needed to win the ERA title. It's hard to think they would do that and screw up their Wild Card Game pitching plans, so they'd have to get knocked out first.
Right now Fulmer is the AL Rookie of the Year favorite, though Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez has closed the gap considerably the last few weeks. Failing to qualify for the ERA title shouldn't hurt Fulmer's Rookie of the Year case, not when Sanchez is only to go finish with 50-something games played.
