LAKELAND, Fla. _ Detroit Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer said Monday morning that he only expects to miss one spring training start with a mildly sprained right ankle and said it felt "better than expected."
Still, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said Fulmer has been ruled out of participating for the United States in the second round of the World Baseball Classic. Fulmer was part of the pool of projected U.S. players.
Fulmer, the reigning American League rookie of the year, was scratched from Monday's exhibition. Instead, fellow right-hander Mike Pelfrey started against the Baltimore Orioles.
"He'd be a longshot for the third round," Ausmus said of Fulmer's possible WBC participation. "I guess I shouldn't say he's completely excluded, but he's not going to be ready for the second round. His pitch count won't be high enough. I think the pitch count, at that point, is up to 85 pitches, 80 pitches, something like that. He's not going to be near that. We were starting him slow to begin with.
"But we still have plenty of time to get his pitch count up for the regular season."
Fulmer turns 24 on March 15. He had a 3.06 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP in 26 starts for the Tigers last season. He struck out 132 batters in 159 innings.
Fulmer said he rolled his ankle during agility drills.
"Three days later, it feels fine," he said. "Focused on getting ready for the season. Shouldn't be too long before I'm out there. Probably throw a couple 'pens and get in the game again and pick up where I left off."
Asked whether he thought he'd only miss one start, Fulmer said: "Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's better than expected today. Happy with where it's at. No swelling. Couple more days taking it easy, and we'll get back after it."
