Detroit – If this were a normal spring – spoiler alert: it’s not – Michael Fulmer would be just about ready to start throwing to hitters, live bullpens. He is in month 14 of his recovery from Tommy John surgery. The original timetable for his return was 14-16 months.
As he told The Detroit News in March and repeated to Tigers radio broadcaster Dan Dickerson last week, “I’m 100-percent pain-free and happy with the way everything is going.”
But here’s the rub: Unless Tigers head athletic trainer Doug Teter, equipment manager Jim Schmakel and director of minor league operations Dan Lunetta don batting helmets and pick up bats, Fulmer has nobody to throw batting practice to.