The Tigers could be getting a much-welcomed bullpen boost soon with the return of Brant Hurter, who tossed a scoreless inning of relief in his latest rehab appearance for Triple-A Toledo on Wednesday. But the lefty reliever will not be back quite yet.
Hurter, out since May 24 with lumbar spine inflammation, was scheduled to pitch for the Mud Hens on Tuesday but had to wait a day when that game was suspended by rain. He took the mound when the game resumed in the bottom of the second inning and retired the Bats in order on a groundout, a popout and a flyout. He needed just eight pitches, and threw five of them for strikes. However, his average velocity was down across the board, including a fastball that averaged just 89.7 mph.
“The velo is something that we're looking at as he's working through his outing,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “He's going to pitch again [for Toledo] on Friday, hopefully get a little bit more of an extended outing, even into a second [inning] if we have to, because we've got to build up endurance and build up his arm strength. And his body's got to move a little bit faster. But the reports were great.”
Wednesday marked Hurter’s first scoreless outing in three rehab appearances between Toledo and Single-A Lakeland. He has allowed five runs (four earned) on three hits over 2 1/3 innings, with two walks and two strikeouts.
The Tigers have weathered Hurter’s absence thanks in no small part to fellow lefty Drew Sommers, who has emerged as a solid secondary southpaw option in the bullpen behind workhorse Tyler Holton.