Blaine Hardy

Blaine Hardy

Hardy with the Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers – No. 65
Pitcher
Born: (1987-03-14) March 14, 1987
Seattle, Washington
Bats: Left Throws: Left
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

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 23 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 13 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

  1. "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.
  2. Reisenweber, Tom (April 29, 2013). "Hardy added to Erie roster | Extra Innings". Goerieblogs.com. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Briggsblade, David (July 29, 2013). "Hardy finds niche with Mud Hens". Toledo Blade. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  4. 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.
  5. "Hardy continues to impress out of bullpen | tigers.com: News". Mlb.mlb.com. March 5, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  6. "Detroit Tigers cut Jhan Marinez, Blaine Hardy; opening day roster set barring further moves". MLive.com. March 27, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  7. "Wanting another lefty in 'pen, Tigers add Hardy". MLB.com. June 15, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
  8. "E-W grad Hardy makes major-league debut". heraldnet.com. June 16, 2014. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
  9. Beck, Jason (August 23, 2015). "Hardy's outstanding homerless stretch ends". MLB.com. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  10. "Blaine Hardy PitchFX at FanGraphs.com". fangraphs.com. Retrieved August 29, 2014.

External links

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