Blaine Hardy
| Blaine Hardy | |||
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Hardy with the Detroit Tigers | |||
| Detroit Tigers – No. 65 | |||
| Pitcher | |||
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Born: March 14, 1987 Seattle, Washington | |||
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| MLB debut | |||
| June 16, 2014, for the Detroit Tigers | |||
| MLB statistics (through May 3, 2016) | |||
| Win–loss record | 7–4 | ||
| Earned run average | 2.87 | ||
| Strikeouts | 91 | ||
| Teams | |||
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Blaine Patrick Hardy (born March 14, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB).
College career
Hardy attended Edmonds-Woodway High School in Edmonds, Washington, graduating in 2005.[1] He then enrolled at Lewis–Clark State College, where he played for the school's college baseball team. Lewis–Clark won the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics World Series championship in 2008.[2]
Professional career
The Kansas City Royals selected Hardy in the 22nd round of the 2008 MLB Draft. The Royals released Hardy during spring training in 2013.[3]
Hardy signed with the Detroit Tigers in April 2013, and they assigned him to the Erie SeaWolves of the Class AA Eastern League. Hardy finished with a 2–2 record and a 1.63 earned run average (ERA) as a reliever before he was promoted to the Toledo Mud Hens of the Class AAA International League. He was pressed into duty as a starting pitcher due to a pitching shortage, but performed well.[3] He finished the season with an 8–3 record and a 1.67 ERA between Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo.[4]
Hardy was a non-roster invitee to spring training, and impressed as he competed for a role as the team's long reliever.[4][5] The Tigers reassigned him to minor league camp towards the end of spring training.[6] On June 15, 2014, the Detroit Tigers purchased Hardy's contract from Triple-A Toledo, and he was added to the 25-man roster.[7] Hardy made his major league debut for the Detroit Tigers the next day in a game against the Kansas City Royals, pitching two scoreless innings, allowing one hit, walking two and striking out two.[8] He performed well in his first major league season, posting a 2.54 ERA in 39 innings pitched.
On August 23, 2015, Hardy's homerless streak of 84 2⁄3 innings ended after allowing a home run to Mike Napoli. This was the longest active homerless innings streak in the major leagues. The last time Hardy had allowed a home run was to Jason Castro on June 27, 2014. Hardy holds the franchise record for the most appearances by a left-hander without allowing a home run, at 87, and was two appearances away from tying Bernie Boland's record for 89 homerless appearances.[9] He would finish the season with a 3.08 ERA, while striking out 55 batters in 61 1⁄3 innings. He appeared in a team-high 70 games in 2015.
Pitch Selection
Blaine throws a fastball in the 88–91 MPH range that he will occasionally cut for late movement. His most effective pitch is an upper-70s curveball, which has yielded most of his strikeouts to date. He mixes in a changeup at 78–81 mph.[10]
References
- ↑ "E-W grad Blaine Hardy gets Ichiro to ground out as he faces home-town team". My Edmonds News. April 2, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
- ↑ Reisenweber, Tom (April 29, 2013). "Hardy added to Erie roster | Extra Innings". Goerieblogs.com. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
- 1 2 Briggsblade, David (July 29, 2013). "Hardy finds niche with Mud Hens". Toledo Blade. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
- 1 2 "Non-roster invitee Blaine Hardy quietly emerging as strong candidate to make Detroit Tigers' roster". MLive.com. March 6, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
- ↑ "Hardy continues to impress out of bullpen | tigers.com: News". Mlb.mlb.com. March 5, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
- ↑ "Detroit Tigers cut Jhan Marinez, Blaine Hardy; opening day roster set barring further moves". MLive.com. March 27, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
- ↑ "Wanting another lefty in 'pen, Tigers add Hardy". MLB.com. June 15, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
- ↑ "E-W grad Hardy makes major-league debut". heraldnet.com. June 16, 2014. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
- ↑ Beck, Jason (August 23, 2015). "Hardy's outstanding homerless stretch ends". MLB.com. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
- ↑ "Blaine Hardy PitchFX at FanGraphs.com". fangraphs.com. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- Blaine Hardy on Twitter
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