Lakeland, Fla. — When a musician first sits down with a particularly difficult piece of music, he or she doesn’t try to learn it all…
Lakeland, Fla. — When a musician first sits down with a particularly difficult piece of music, he or she doesn’t try to learn it all at once. They break it down, measure by measure, note by note if the passage is uncommonly fast or tricky.
It would be overwhelming to learn it any other way.
Michael Fulmer is re-learning how to pitch after knee surgery much the same way — step by step, literally from the head on down.
« He was so out of whack coming into spring training, » Tigers pitching coach Rick Anderson said. « He was flying off his upper half, his head was moving all over the place. I said we aren’t going to take five things and do them all at once. Let’s go one, two, three, and that’s giving the knee time to strengthen.
« Now he’s showing good with it all. And once he gets his legs into it, I am pretty confident it will come back. »
BOX SCORE: Braves 6, Tigers 4
It, of course, is Fulmer’s velocity. The last three seasons, Fulmer attacked hitters like a snorting, stomping bull, pouring 96-mph four-seamers and two-seamers at them. Since the knee surgery, wearing a protective and somewhat restrictive brace, that velocity is down in the 88-91 range.
He made his third spring start Saturday, in a 6-4 spring loss to the Braves, and threw one pitch at 92 mph, the other 43 between 82-91. But, to Fulmer and Anderson, everything is right on course.
« It’s not like it just vanished, » Fulmer said.
