BALTIMORE — The Detroit Tigers listed right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long as the starting pitcher for Tuesday, June 10, in the first of three games against the Baltimore Orioles.
Only, he didn’t take the mound in the first inning.
Instead, manager A.J. Hinch changed the pitching plan for Tuesday’s game, opting for the opener-bulk strategy.
It was “pitching chaos” all over again.
Instead of Gipson-Long, the Tigers used left-handed reliever Brant Hurter as an opener to combat the five left-handed hitters throughout the Orioles’ lineup, including Jackson Holliday and Gunnar Henderson among the first three spots.
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“He’s a weapon, and we use him that way,” Hinch said of Hurter, who has thrown 36 innings in 19 appearances this season. “This is a unique team that features a ton of left-handed hitters, he’s a really tough guy on those left-handed hitters. … It’s a pretty good matchup. … When we do it this way, we can determine when to bring Sawyer in.”
The Tigers prioritized the entry point for the bulk reliever to provide the best opportunity for success. In this case, Gipson-Long served as the bulk reliever — but only after Hurter set him up by pitching into the third inning.
“It was a really good day on the mound,” said Hinch after using five pitchers for a 5-3 win in Tuesday’s game, “but it does start with Hurter getting in and handing the ball to Sawyer in a good place, and then Sawyer was really incredible.”
Hurter faced 12 batters.
Seven of them were left-handed hitters.
Lefties have batted just .195 with a .498 OPS against Hurter throughout his MLB career, which spans 29 games across parts of two seasons, and righties have hit .207 with a .609 OPS.
Meanwhile, the Orioles rank 30th in MLB with a .558 OPS against left-handed pitchers.
“It’s not a knock on Sawyer,” Hinch said. “It’s more pro-Hurter in the things he can do against this lineup, that’s predominantly left-handed. That’s the right matchup.”
Henderson is the most dangerous talent in the Orioles’ lineup, but he’s a left-handed hitter. The Tigers wanted Hurter to face him twice in favorable matchups, limiting Gipson-Long to just two unfavorable matchups instead of three.
That’s exactly what happened.
The Tigers mapped out the plan with Hurter as part of their pregame preparation.
“They give me an idea about the hitter they’re looking at Sawyer coming in, so I have an idea,” Hurter said. “They give me a little heads-up of what batter I need to get to.”
In Tuesday’s game, Hurter matched up with Henderson in the first and third innings. In the third, Henderson delivered a two-out RBI single, which forced the Tigers to pivot from the original plan.
Had Hurter retired Henderson, then Gipson-Long would’ve entered for a clean fourth inning against right-handed hitter Ramón Laureano. But once Henderson reached base, the Tigers turned to right-handed reliever Chase Lee to face Laureano, finishing the third.
“We wanted a clean inning for him, so Chase had to come in and get the one out,” Hinch said. “But Hurter pitched efficiently, which allows me to extend him as long as we want.”
Hurter worked as a starter throughout his career in the minor leagues, so he has experience handling heavier workloads across multiple innings, but the Tigers just don’t have room for him to start in the big leagues.
So Hurter takes on the do-it-all role.
“We can’t forget, this guy could start on a lot of teams,” Hinch said of Hurter, who has a 1.75 ERA with nine walks and 34 strikeouts across 36 innings, “and he may start down the road. It shows, because he pounds the strike zone.”
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After Hurter, Gipson-Long allowed one run on three hits and zero walks with five strikeouts across 4⅔ innings. His fastball maxed out at nearly 96 mph, his changeup generated six whiffs on 11 swings and he threw more than 78% of his pitches for strikes.
Gipson-Long dominated.
But the Tigers set him up for success.
“The fact that we can throw (Tarik) Skubal, Casey (Mize) and Jack (Flaherty) out there for seven, eight (innings),” said catcher Dillon Dingler, “and then the next day throw a couple of arms before we get to the bulk guy, it’s a completely different look.”
Another fun element in the game: The Tigers showed off their “pitching chaos” in other ways by turning to reliever Tommy Kahnle (who has eight saves) in the eighth inning, then reliever Will Vest (who has 11 saves) in the ninth inning.
Next time, it could be Vest first and Kahnle second.
“We can go a lot of different ways, which makes us unpredictable,” Hinch said. “We try to be unpredictable and be a tough matchup for teams. It’s working for us.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers bring back ‘pitching chaos’ strategy for win, led by Brant Hurter
Reporting by Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
