LAKELAND, Fla. -- The Yankees' travel roster for Wednesday’s game against the Tigers did not include CC Sabathia. So Tigers right-hander Michael Fulmer could not get tips on how to find baseball pants to accommodate the brace he’s wearing on his right knee when he pitches.
He could use some ideas.
“I was supposed to get some custom pants, where they let out a little bit at the knee,” Fulmer said after his two innings in a rain-shortened 10-4 Tigers win. “They just haven’t come in yet, so I’m wearing some bigger pants trying to disguise it. …
“It’s a fine line, though. Like CC. I don’t know how he wears those things. I feel like I’d be swishing my pant legs back-and-forth when I’m trying to run or walk, get caught up and trip.”
Sabathia has long been known for his baggy pants on the mound. Fulmer was struggling for a comfort level in his first outing of the spring, but his pants had nothing to do with it. With all the tweaks Fulmer has made to his delivery to take pressure off his surgically repaired right knee while still trying to pound the ball low in the strike zone, Fulmer was laboring Wednesday and putting pressure on his team.
Eventually, he stopped thinking about his mechanics and started thinking about getting outs. That’s when he started pitching effectively, following up a 26-pitch, four-run opening inning with a perfect seven-pitch second.
“I think it was just me trying to work on everything we’ve been working on in that first inning, working on too many things, trying to change so many things at once,” Fulmer said. “It can kind of throw things out of whack. The second inning, I kind of just said we’ll work on it in between games, but for now I just need to get the ball down in the zone and pound the strike zone. And that second inning was much better than the first.”
Fulmer’s opening inning wasn’t entirely his doing. He seemingly had escaped a jam with runners at the corners by inducing a potential double-play grounder from Miguel Andújar, but Josh Harrison's throw to first base went wide, allowing one run to score and extending the inning.
Fulmer couldn’t finish off Greg Bird from a 1-2 count and paid for a 3-2 fastball that Bird elevated to left for a three-run homer.
The fastball registered at 90 mph on the Joker Marchant Stadium radar gun, right in line with the other 89-91 mph fastballs he threw. That’s well down from his usual mid-90s velocity, but it’s also his first game this spring with a surgically repaired meniscus in his right knee.
“I’ll let you guys worry about that,” Fulmer said. “I’m not too worried about it. That’s kind of the last thing that’s going to come along. We’re just trying to work on trying to repeat mechanics pain-free again. That was my only goal today and everything felt good.”
Likewise, the velocity doesn’t concern manager Ron Gardenhire.
“We just have to let him see how everything goes,” Gardenhire said. “Right now he’s got a big adjustment to make [with the brace] and learn how to pitch with it. The key is being healthy, and he’s that right now. His arm feels great. His leg didn’t bother him a bit. He backed up third base. He did fine.”