DETROIT -- Tigers starter Michael Fulmer sat at his locker hunched over a few stapled pages of notes ahead of his last home start on May 17. He was looking at a scouting report on his upcoming opponent, the Orioles: the hot/cold zones of hitters, their averages against certain pitches and more.
It was more of a last-minute cram session than a deep dive for Fulmer, who isn't a "big analytical guy" by his own account. He doesn't know his own Wins Above Replacement value, for example, let alone what constitutes a good WAR.