The Detroit Tigers ' pitching staff ranks fourth in MLB with a 3.65 ERA in the 2024 season, the best team ERA since 2013. Pitching coaches Chris Fetter, Robin Lund and Juan Nieves have optimized each pitcher through mechanical and pitch-mix adjustments.
But left-hander Brant Hurter credits Triple-A Toledo pitching coach Doug Bochtler for helping him improve with a mechanical adjustment at the beginning of his delivery.
Hurter sang Bochtler's praises after filling up the strike zone in Friday's 1-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Comerica Park. The Tigers came one out away from a combined no-hitter with four pitchers, led by Hurter's 5⅔ innings as a bulk reliever.
"I do a little rock first," Hurter said after Friday's win, describing the beginning of his delivery. "When I was scuffling, he introduced that. The first bullpen I threw was the best 'pen I've ever thrown, so I still look at video from that 'pen and try to recreate that."
Here's how it works: Hurter takes a small step forward with his lead leg, then rocks his hands forward, then simultaneously lifts his lead leg and hands to get loaded on his back leg. The front-to-back motion resembles cradling a baby.
After that, Hurter throws the pitch like normal.
"He helped me a ton with feeling a rhythm in my delivery," Hurter said, referencing Bochtler. "My problem was I wasn't repeating well, so I couldn't figure out how to make adjustments, so once I started repeating well ... I could feel the adjustments that I needed to make."
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Hurter, 26, has a 2.56 ERA with five walks (3.4% walk rate) and 37 strikeouts (25% strikeout rate) across 38⅔ innings in eight games (one start) since making his MLB debut in early August . He isn't a flamethrower, but he locates 56.3% of his pitches in the strike zone, above the MLB average of 48.7%.
In Friday's game, Hurter became the 10th reliever in MLB history (and the first since Nick Pivetta in July 2023) to throw at least 5⅔ no-hit innings with at least eight strikeouts.
The Tigers were throwing a combined perfect game until Hurter walked Adley Rutschman — his 18th and final batter — on eight pitches to open the eighth inning. He walked off the field after 71 pitches to a standing ovation from the fans.
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Hurter threw first-pitch strikes to 17 of 18 batters, including first-pitch strikes to each of his first 14 batters. He relied on his 91 mph sinker and his 82 mph sweeper for more than 85% of his pitches. Of his 17 outs, eight were strikeouts, eight were groundouts and one was a flyout.
"The fact that he can control contact is his calling card," manager A.J. Hinch, who has been impressed with Hurter since spring training, said after Friday's win. "He's going to miss bats because he throws so many strikes and gets into two-strike counts. When all that's working, he's obviously very efficient and effective."
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The no-hitter stayed intact until Gunnar Henderson hit a triple down the first-base line and into the right-field corner off left-hander Tyler Holton with two outs in the ninth inning.
Hurter watched the final inning on TV from the training room.
"I knew the situation, but that's baseball," Hurter said. "It was honestly funny to me that it was the last out. It was just like, of course."
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The Tigers wouldn't have been in a position to no-hit the Orioles if not for Hurter's success, and Hurter wouldn't have been in a position to have success if not for Bochtler's instruction.
Hurter — a seventh-round pick in the 2021 draft — has always thrown strikes and induced ground balls, but coming out of spring training, he struggled to pound the strike zone in Triple-A Toledo.
He posted a 5.80 ERA in 71⅓ innings with the Mud Hens.
A lot has changed since then.
"It's part delivery, it's part confidence," Hinch said. "It's going to breed confidence when you throw strikes in the big leagues against these teams. He's always wanted to throw strikes, but he has no fear of the strike zone given the positive the results that he's getting."
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers left-hander Brant Hurter almost threw no-hitter with unique 'rock' delivery
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