Hurter rewards Tigers' faith with scoreless MLB debut

DETROIT -- The Tigers had plenty of pitching prospects to choose from when they were picking a starter for their Spring Breakout showcase game in March at Joker Marchant Stadium. They chose Brant Hurter, their No. 14 prospect, coming off a breakout season at Double-A Erie, and he responded with three solid innings. It seems like forever ago, but it was just four and a half months back.

The future is now for Hurter with Detroit, in more ways than one.

While Sunday afternoon’s 3-2 loss to the Royals was a gut punch for the Tigers, who led from Gio Urshela’s second-inning RBI single until MJ Melendez hit a pinch-hit three-run homer off Shelby Miller with two outs in the ninth, Hurter’s three scoreless innings provided a badly needed bright spot to close out a 2-7 homestand.

With Detroit’s rotation in flux heading into a six-game West Coast trip (against the Mariners and Giants) with just two clear-cut starters, that need doesn’t let up, even if Hurter isn’t starting.

“I was eventually going to need something from Hurter,” manager A.J. Hinch said, “but we didn’t need to put that much pressure on him to go much more than the nine outs.”

Before the Tigers packed up and headed to the airport, Hurter took a moment after the game to visit his family on the field and take pictures. There was a lot of family, and a lot of pics.

“From the minute he started to warm up, his family’s yelling behind home plate,” Hinch said. “It was awesome.”

“Aw, I had too much family,” Hurter said with a laugh. “Probably 40 friends and family here. It was awesome. It definitely helps with the nerves, knowing my family’s there. They’re going to love me whether I do bad or good. Definitely a really cool moment.”

Though the Tigers have been short on starters ever since Casey Mize and Reese Olson went on the injured list and Kenta Maeda went to the bullpen before the All-Star break, Detroit held off on adding Hurter from Triple-A Toledo for a reason.

The former seventh-round Draft pick (No. 195 overall in 2021) from Georgia Tech was struggling to make a case. He was knocked out in the first inning twice in three outings, once by pitch count, then gave up nine runs over 3 2/3 innings against St. Paul on July 21.

As badly as the Tigers needed pitching, they wanted to bring in the 6-foot-6 lefty with some momentum going in his favor.

“I wasn’t keeping up with it too much,” Hurter said, “but once other guys started talking about it, I was like, ‘Maybe if I can get a couple good ones in, they’d have faith in me to come out and do it up here.’”

Hurter’s seven scoreless innings and six strikeouts against Louisville on July 26 provided it.

“Over the past couple starts, he really started to get a better feel for all of his stuff in the zone,” said catcher Dillon Dingler, who caught him all season in Toledo.

The Tigers made the decision to call up Hurter after the Trade Deadline. Still, they wanted to ease the transition, so they let him settle in at Comerica Park on Saturday as an acclimation day. Detroit also decided to use an opener to set up a pocket for Hurter to settle in before having to face Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez in the middle of the Royals’ order.

Once Alex Faedo and Brenan Hanifee combined for four scoreless innings, the table was set for Hurter in the fifth inning to protect a 1-0 lead, starting with the righty-heavy bottom of the Kansas City lineup.

Hurter needed just eight pitches, six of them sinkers, to record three groundouts. By the time Witt led off the sixth, Hurter had a two-run advantage thanks to a Matt Vierling sacrifice fly. Hurter put Witt in an 0-2 hole before getting another groundout, but Pasquantino’s single brought up Perez as the potential tying run.

Though Hurter was facing an All-Star, he and Dingler treated it just like Toledo. It ended up being Hurter’s first big league strikeout.

“I think I threw a sinker away that he chased,” Hurter said, “so I threw a slider off that. It was a really cool moment for me.”

Hurter became the first Tiger to make his MLB debut with three or more scoreless innings since Sandy Báez on June 4, 2018.

No matter what happens from here, he’ll always have that. The Tigers hope for plenty more. Again, the future is now.