Michael Fulmer Named A.L. Rookie Of The Year
By Will Burchfield
@burchie_kid
Michael Fulmer has received the ultimate seal of approval on his first MLB season.
The Detroit Tigers' 23-year-old starting pitcher was named the American League Rookie of the Year on Monday, beating out Gary Sanchez of the New York Yankees and Tyler Naquin of the Cleveland Indians.
The award was voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Fulmer went 11-7 with a 3.06 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP over 159 innings in 2016. He fell three innings shy of qualifying for the ERA tile. Had he been eligible, he would have finished third behind Toronto's Aaron Sanchez (3.00) and Detroit's Justin Verlander (3.04).
Called up from Triple-A Toledo in late April, Fulmer soon embarked on a historic run of dominance. From May 21 to June 17, he pitched 33.1 consecutive scoreless innings, a Tigers rookie record. It was the longest such streak by any Tigers pitcher since 1961.
Fulmer hardly slowed down from there.
He was the Tigers' best pitcher throughout much of the summer, going toe to toe with Justin Verlander at the top of the starting rotation. By season's end, he had racked up ten starts of at least seven innings pitched and no more than three earned runs allowed.
Fulmer's emergence helped keep the Tigers' pitching staff afloat through a troublesome month of June and his continued success enabled the team to stay in playoff contention through the final day of the season. Without him, it's hard to imagine where the Tigers may have ended up.
Fulmer's main competitor for A.L. Rookie of the Year was Sanchez. The Yankees' 23-year-old catcher was called up in August and racked up 20 home runs and 42 RBI in 53 games. As impressive as this was, it was generally agreed that Sanchez didn't log enough playing time to claim an award based on a season's worth of results.
Fulmer is the first Tiger to win Rookie of the Year since Justin Verlander in 2006, and just the third pitcher to win the award in franchise history. The other was Mark Fidrych in 1976.
Earlier this month, Fulmer was named the A.L.'s Outstanding Rookie by his peers.
The Cy Young Award winners will be announced on Wednesday. Verlander is one of three A.L. finalists.
