Detroit Tigers: What to Expect From Brant Hurter

Brant Hurter has been promoted to the Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers have promoted Brant Hurter to the big leagues. Detroit’s busy trade deadline left the club with just 37 players on the 40-man roster. They quickly added two relievers, but their receding rotation meant a starting pitcher had to be coming soon.

The first sign that pitcher would be Brant Hurter came last Thursday. Hurter had been the announced starter for Toledo, but the Mud Hens made a late change to their lineup. The writing was on the wall (technically on the locker) on Saturday, and then on Sunday morning the Tigers officially announced the move on Twitter.

Welcome to The Show, Brant Hurter! pic.twitter.com/JyI3RtHYvk

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) August 4, 2024

So let’s learn a little more about the newest Detroit Tigers pitcher.

Brant Hurter’s Background

Brant Hurter comes from an athletic background, with a father (baseball) and mother (basketball) who played collegiately at Wake Forest. Brant himself starred in basketball and baseball at Woodstock High School in Georgia, the alma mater of Nick Markakis.

Hurter was a well-regarded prep prospect, but not among the top of the 2017 draft class, so he headed to Georgia Tech to play college baseball. He served mostly as a midweek starter for the Yellow Jackets as a freshman, compiling a 5-4 record with a 6.04 ERA over 53.2 innings.

After a solid stint in the Cape Cod League, Hurter was in the midst of an excellent sophomore when he went down with Tommy John surgery. He didn’t pitch at all in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, and he went unselected in that year’s five-round draft.

Brant Hurter returned to Georgia Tech in 2021 and produced a solid season. His 3.90 ERA was a little high due to some home run issues. But he showed impressive control for a pitcher returning from Tommy John, walking just 15 batters in 85.1 innings.

Baseball America ranked Hurter 123rd in the 2021 draft, while MLB Pipeline ranked him 191st. Pipeline won this one, as Hurter landed with the Detroit Tigers in the 7th round, where he received a full-slot bonus of $241,000 as the 195th overall pick.

He didn’t pitch at all in pro ball after the draft, but Hurter climbed three levels in 2022. He was dominant in Lakeland over 42.1 innings, and nearly as strong in 50.2 innings at High-A West Michigan. But he had a bit of a rude awakening over four outings in Erie to end the year, giving up 12 runs and 21 hits over 13.2 innings.

Hurter returned to the Erie for the whole of the 2023 season. He was easily Erie’s most consistent and effective starter, posting a 3.28 ERA with 133 strikeouts and 33 walks over 26 starts, covering 118 innings. And then Hurter went on an epic postseason run that SeaWolves fans likely won’t forget. The big southpaw tossed 13 consecutive scoreless innings to help lead Erie to the Eastern League title.

He drew plenty of attention during spring training this year. Hurter made a pair of starts for the Tigers and drew the nod in the inaugural Spring Breakout game. But, as seems to be the case for every Tigers pitcher moving to Triple-A this year, things haven’t been particularly smooth for him in Toledo. He has pitched to a 5.81 ERA over 19 outings, with his hits and walks up, and his strikeouts down.

That said, he is coming off his best start of the season (see below), with seven innings of shutout baseball against Louisville.

Brant Hurter Scouting Report

As always, we encourage you to check out our full scouting report on Brant Hurter. But here’s the quick and dirty version.

The first things that stands out about Brant Hurter are his size and his delivery. He’s a very large man who looks more like an offensive lineman than a baseball player. And he looks a little unusual on the mound, with a low arm slot and a cross-body motion that add deception.

Hurter looks like a reliever, but he has a true three-pitch mix (four if you count his two fastballs) and he has always thrown a good amount of strikes. He’s not at all afraid to come inside to hitters from both sides of the plate. As such, when he does suffer bouts of wildness it usually involves hitting a batter or two.

The Trouble With Brant Hurter

Hurter has long been able to work the edges with his fastball and slider to get a good number of ground balls and whiffs. The slider is still a devastating weapon for him, particularly against left-handed batters. But Triple-A hitters have absolutely hammered his sinker and his four-seamer this year.

Can’t say for sure, but I suspect Chris Fetter and company will have some small pitch usage tweaks for Brant Hurter… pic.twitter.com/OiQ12UQhwQ

— Chris Brown (@ChrisBrown0914) August 3, 2024

It’s hard to imagine him having much success at the MLB level if he continues to throw his sinker more than half of the time. And as I said, I’d be shocked if the Tigers don’t alter his pitch mix a fair amount.

But, it’s also not quite as simple as having him throw his slider and changeup more, because all of a pitcher’s offerings work together. It’s entirely possible that throwing the sinker so much is what makes Hurter’s slider and changeup so effective.

The Verdict

The Tigers have decided to use an opener and then have Hurter debut as the bulk reliever. This is largely to keep him from having to face Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez more than two times. But it should also give us a pretty good sense of their expectations for Hurter.

In short, they think he’s going to have some trouble getting right-handed batters out at the MLB level. And we do, too. He should continue to get starts down the stretch. He’s capable of eating innings, and that’s something the Tigers desperately need. But we still think Hurter’s long-term role will be as a long reliever who can also be used to neutralize the opponent’s best left-handed bats.

Our prediction for today: 3.1 IP 7H 5ER 2BB 2HBP 3K

For more Brant Hurter information you can check out Rogelio’s interview with him from last year.

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