The White Sox are promoting right-hander Carson Fulmer to the Majors today to work out of their bullpen, according to Dave Williams of Barstool Sports (links to Twitter). MLBPipeline.com’s Jesse Burkhart first tweeted that Fulmer was likely heading to the Majors. Fulmer will inherit the 40-man roster spot that was vacated by yesterday’s outright of right-hander Scott Carroll.
The Sox selected Fulmer, 22, out of Vanderbilt with the eighth overall pick in the 2015 draft. He dominated in 23 innings between Chicago’s Rookie League affiliate and Class-A Advanced affiliate in 2015 following the draft, but the 2016 season hasn’t gone quite as smoothly. Fulmer currently has a 4.76 ERA with 90 strikeouts against 51 walks in 87 innings for Chicago’s Double-A affiliate, though he’s pitched considerably better as of late. Over his past seven starts, Fulmer has a 3.51 ERA with a 54-to-17 K/BB ratio in 41 innings, and he’s yielded just two runs in his past 19 innings.
Fulmer entered the season as a consensus Top 100 prospect, and he’s currently 33rd on MLB.com’s Top 100 prospects list and 73rd on Baseball America’s midseason update of its Top 100 prospects. Some pundits at the time of the draft wrote that Fulmer projected as a future reliever, and that’s still a consideration for a number of scouts, though the Sox will presumably give Fulmer a chance to stick in the rotation down the road. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com reference Fulmer’s 93-97 mph fastball in their scouting report (which could play up in a short-relief role) and call his curveball a plus offering as well while noting that his changeup gives him potential for a third plus pitch. Fulmer, however, is slight in frame, as he’s listed at 6’0″ and 195 pounds. ESPN’s Keith Law has written on a number of occasions that Fulmer profiles best at the back of a bullpen due to that lack of size, a high-effort delivery and a lack of command.
Via Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune, manager Robin Ventura suggested the possibility of utilizing Fulmer in a relief role last week. “You’re trying to see if a kid can do it, and we did it with Carlos (Rodon) a little bit and Chris (Sale) has done it,” Ventura told the Tribune. “You bring ’em up here and you bring ’em through out of the bullpen and see if you can lighten their load a little bit and then see how they handle it.”
Fulmer’s long-term role with the Sox remains undetermined, but if he’s in the Majors to stay he’ll fall well shy of Super Two status, as the most service time he could accrue in 2016 would be 79 days. He’ll be arbitration eligible following the 2019 season and controllable through the 2022 season if he does not return to the minor leagues from this point forth, though obviously a demotion could further delay his path to arbitration and free agency.
Set up to David Robertson will likely end up his role this season, correct? I guess he’s a worthy fantasy guy to watch in case D Rob goes down again.
I picked Fulmer up & stashed him on one of my fantasy teams. The ChiSox always call their top prospects up early. Not surprised it’s a ‘pen role for Fulmer, worked for Rodon & Sale. ChiSox are smart, why trade for a bullpen arm when perhaps you can fill within.
Nate Jones and his 2.88 FIP, 168 ERA+ and 0.87 WHIP aren’t budging from the setup role.
I think this guy is going to be pretty darn good, I definitely wish my Red Sox had gotten him but I am pretty happy with Benintendi, he’s going to be a star.
Bigpapi4ever?
Is that you Papi?
I honest to god am really hoping it is. I missed having such an unrealistic take on everything. Not even kidding… 🙂
Yep, it’s me. I miss all of you. Glad to be back. I love the moves my team has made lately.
Glad to see you still consider Benintendi a HOF future…
I’m no scout, but this seems a bit reckless for a guy that wasn’t lighting up AA, and for half a season at that.
When a starter, he has to use his secondaries quite a bit. Not so much, out of the pen
As noted, the Sox aggressively use this strategy.
Minor league results with out context are meaningless you have no idea what coaches are asking him to do in the minor leagues. Most scouts say the SEC is comparable to AA baseball well his results were pretty good in the SEC.
Even if SEC = AA, the guy barely has a year under his belt. This is quite obviously a desperation move.
Not quite. The Sox sucked when they brought Rodon up and used him in that role. They used Sale the same way, but I can’t recall how bad they were that season. This is just how they do business with their pitching.
if they put him in the pen in the minors, they would be getting ripped for picking a reliever with a top 10 pick, when most people thought he was a reliever but the Sox insisted he was a top flight starter. but alas, he walked even more in pros than he did in college.
so, by promoting him and putting him in the pen in the majors, where he’ll probably be fine, it looks like more of a success, that a guy you picked just last year is already hitting the majors
Fulmer looks to have a bright future. Sale and Rodon’s progression/track are entirely independent of Fulmer’s. I saw him several times this season in various southern league games. In 2016 I expect him to get blasted in the bigs, he isn’t ready. Appears to be a rash decision, quite desperate really. I hope it doesn’t impact his confidence.
Fulmer have confidence problems? That is funny the guy will be a bulldog on the mound regardless of results.
Do you guys remember the time when Andruw Jones got doubled off at 2nd in Cleveland?
So he is struggling a little this year and only been in the minors for a year and they are bringing him up why?
Just a hunch, but they may know more about the player than the general public I know we got some hall of fame scouts around here though.
Hallelujah! Let ’em have it!
Because it is a desperate move by CWS.
This kid will do well. If he has his confidence he’ll be just fine.
a desperate move by a desperate team trying to stay realevant. With a dwindling fan base pathetic farm system, they have got to do something to maintain any interest at all.
Another panicking baby bear fan?
desperation move. Lousy AA numbers
Again and again, scout grades matter, not numbers. Major leaguers regularly struggle in minor league rehab assignments. Does that mean they’re lousy? No. Simply put, it means small sample sizes don’t matter. This is a bit desperate by the White Sox, but I don’t understand why we judge these kids’ long term prospects based upon a small sample size. That and I don’t understand perception that these guys have to be dominating the minors to be major league assets. It just isn’t true.
I predicted Carson Fulmer’s MLB debut for the second half of the 2016 season since last winter and continued to do so despite his slow start at AA this year. Imo, he should begin in the bullpen as is the organization’s m.o. with their starting pitching prospects.
Since Fulmer was a reliever/closer at Vanderbilt through his first 1-1/2 seasons in college, he might be best suited to remain in the White Sox pen for at least the remainder of this season. I would also not hesitate to use him in high leverage situations at some point this year, just as the White Sox did with Chris Sale when he debuted as a reliever in August of 2010, the same year in which he was drafted. Like Sale, I believe Fulmer will eventually become a top of the rotation starter at some point but he could absolutely dominate as a late inning reliever in the mean time.
An ERA just shy of 5.00 in 17 double A starts is a “slow start” to you? I don’t know which one to criticize first his 4.76 ERA in only double A ball, or his 5.3 BB/9 rate. Pretty sure the Cubs’ Duane Underwood is putting up similar stats for the Cubs’ double A affiliate yet he is hardly a highly touted pitching prospect. I’m not going to say Fulmer has no shot at being a success in the majors, but I think people getting amped up about him and thinking he could be the next Sale is kind of a stretch. IMO he’s more likely to be another Rodon…… mediocre.
I am indifferent about this move. I was disappointed to see his numbers at the Double A level but I was glad they have improved. From my understanding, he was learning new mechanics and it seems he is a fast learner.
I am excited this kid has been promoted but I hope he is not rushed to be a starter like Rodon. I understand the reasons for Rodon’s quick promotion. I would taker take my chances with a 22 year old rookie than with Hector Noesi. I do hope Fulmer remains a bull pen arm this season and I do think he will because starting pitching has been solid as of late.
There is little reason to be “indifferent” about this move. After all, Carson Fulmer is replacing Chris Beck on the 25-man active roster as a potential impact reliever in the White Sox bullpen as well as journeyman pitcher Scott Carrol on the clubs 40-man reserve list.
No one thinks he’s been rushed? Idk if this will help but it’s worth a shot I guess
Hey, it worked for Sale, and hasn’t harmed Rodon. Beckham, however, could have used more time in the minors. Guess we will see how Fullmer handles it.
I guess his 4.76 ERA in 17 double A starts was just too awesome to ignore………?
The Sox are just trying to stay relevant, they hardly even get covered here in Chicago.
Not that I necessarily want this to happen but they are possibly bringing him up to show he can be effective at the ML level in order to raise his trade value. If he tanks, no big loss as we have given one of our only prospects of any value some ML experience in a season where if something drastic — major impact trade or strong winning stretch — doesn’t happen we’re not poised for the playoffs. Plus we already have a few lousy bullpen arms as it is, what’s one more (half serious).
Lol white sox suck