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Carson Fulmer

White Sox Designate Carson Fulmer For Assignment, Sign Ryan Goins To Minor League Deal

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The White Sox set their Opening Day roster Thursday, announcing that they’ve designated former top-10 pick Carson Fulmer for assignment. Chicago also signed old friend Ryan Goins to a minor league deal and assigned him to its alternate training site and selected the contracts of four players: infielder Cheslor Cuthbert, outfielder Nicky Delmonico, left-hander Ross Detwiler and right-hander Codi Heuer. Additionally, veteran utilityman Andrew Romine was released by the organization.

Sox fans will surely be glad to see Yoan Moncada activated from the injured list and placed on the Opening Day roster after previously being out with Covid-19. The White Sox also called up right-hander Jimmy Lambert and catcher Zack Collins from their alternate site.

It’s a disappointing outcome for the Sox and Fulmer alike. The former Vanderbilt star was at one point considered during his junior year to be a possible No. 1 overall pick, but he’s simply never put it together in the Majors. I explored the Fulmer conundrum at length during the league’s shutdown, looking at the right-hander’s lengthy history of struggles in the Majors and upper minors. Fulmer was touted as one of the surest big leaguers in that year’s draft, as even his critics felt he was a high-probability late-inning bullpen piece. Those with reservations about taking him at the top of the draft weren’t so much worried that he’d bust completely but that he’d thrive “only” as a reliever rather than a starter.

Fast forward a half decade, and Fulmer is an out-of-options righty with a career 6.56 ERA in the Majors and 5.39 ERA in Triple-A. As detailed in the previously linked piece on him, there are plenty of positive indicators in his arsenal, and I personally have wondered how he might fare working at the top of the zone with his four-seamer, but the win-now White Sox clearly didn’t feel he was among their 30 best options. Perhaps his struggles will be pronounced enough that he’ll clear waivers, but one can also imagine a non-contender rolling the dice on his once touted arm.

Of the players selected to the 40-man roster today, Delmonico and Detwiler have both appeared for the Sox in the past. Delmonico will give them a left-handed bench bat with sparse MLB success, while Detwiler can soak up some innings if need be — either as a spot starter or long reliever. Cuthbert was once a high-end Royals prospect but has never hit much in five MLB seasons. Heuer, meanwhile, was Chicago’s sixth-round pick in 2018 and posted dominant numbers in the minors last year. He has long-term bullpen potential for them, and the Sox are surely excited to get a glimpse of how he’ll fare against MLB opposition.

As for Goins, he’ll return to the organization for a second season after hitting .250/.333/.347 in 52 games with the Sox last year. The longtime Blue Jays infielder doesn’t have much of a track record at the plate — he’s a career .230/.279/.335 hitter — but he can play all over the infield and is generally considered a strong up-the-middle defender.

When A Can’t-Miss Prospect Misses

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This isn’t how Carson Fulmer’s career was supposed to go. The former Vanderbilt ace was one of the top-ranked prospects in his draft class back in 2015, and virtually no mock drafts compiled by Baseball America, FanGraphs, MLB.com, etc. that spring had him dropping out of the top 10. At one point, Baseball America projected Fulmer to go to the D-backs with the No. 1 overall pick. “Fulmer is the surest big leaguer on the board, with a floor of elite closer,” BA wrote of Fulmer at the time — a pretty resounding endorsement considering that three of the players eventually selected ahead of him were Dansby Swanson, Alex Bregman and Andrew Benintendi.

Carson Fulmer | Quinn Harris-USA TODAY Sports

Obviously, things haven’t played out for the now 26-year-old Fulmer as hoped. Everything went according to plan following that ’15 draft. Fulmer pitched a scoreless frame in the Rookie-level Arizona League before being jumping up to the ChiSox’ Class-A Advanced affiliate. Despite being about two years younger than the average competition in that league, Fulmer allowed just five runs on 16 hits and nine walks with 25 strikeouts in 22 innings (2.05 ERA). That strong debut landed him on the top 100 lists at Baseball America (70) and MLB.com (38).

Fulmer’s numbers a year later weren’t as stout. He averaged better than a strikeout per inning but also more than five walks per nine frames while working to a 4.76 ERA out of the Double-A rotation. The Sox called him up to the big leagues that July despite the shaky numbers — just 13 months after he was drafted. Some will suggest that the organization rushed him to the Majors, but Fulmer was viewed as a potential quick mover from the time he was selected. He closed out the game in his big league debut, firing two shutout innings of relief in a loss to the Angels. The righty struggled in a handful of subsequent appearances and went back to Triple-A to finish out the season.

Since that time, Fulmer has been optioned back to the minors eight different times. He’s generally remained healthy but hasn’t succeeded either in Triple-A (5.39 ERA in 243 2/3 innings) or in the Majors (6.56 ERA in 94 2/3 innings). Now, Fulmer is out of minor league options, so the White Sox will have to carry him on the Major League roster or expose him to waivers whenever play resumes. In that regard, the likely expansion of rosters for at least part of the 2020 season will work nicely in Fulmer’s favor.

Fulmer’s velocity isn’t as high as it once was. A heater that reached 97mph “often” in college, per Baseball America, has averaged 93.2 mph in the Majors (93.7 mph in 2019). His command issues have been exploited by more advanced hitters, and his walk rate and frequency of wild pitches have spiked since reaching Triple-A.

Despite the lack of success at the game’s top levels, Fulmer isn’t without positive indicators. The spin rate on his four-seamer and curveball were both elite in 2019, ranking in the 91st percentile and 87th percentile among big league hurlers, respectively, per Statcast. He recorded healthy swinging-strike rates on his curve, cutter and changeup. In Triple-A, he racked up 51 strikeouts in just 34 innings — a 13.5 K/9 and 33.6 percent overall strikeout percentage that were both easily career-bests at any level.

Might a change in approach benefit him? A look at his career fastball usage at Brooks Baseball shows that he’s long worked down in the zone with the pitch and did so almost exclusively in 2019 — even at a time when much of the league is favoring four-seamers at the top of and above the strike zone. His avoidance of elevated fastballs would help to explain the paltry 4.2 percent swinging-strike rate on his four-seamer in 2019.

At this point, Fulmer has been leapfrogged by a host of new young arms in the Sox’ system — Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech and Reynaldo Lopez among them. The White Sox’ initial hopes of Fulmer quickly ascending to the Majors to anchor a rotation alongside Chris Sale and Carlos Rodon have long since been dashed. There’s still room for him to carve out a long-term place in the team’s bullpen if he can piece it all together once games resume, but it’s far from certain that he’ll ever right the ship with the Sox. Chicago’s clear switch to a win-now mode should shorten whatever leash he’s been given in recent years. A change of scenery and a new outlook/approach could perhaps be best for Fulmer, but he’ll likely get one final shot to make things work with the South Siders.

White Sox Select Contract Of Ervin Santana

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The White Sox announced today that they have selected the contract of veteran righty Ervin Santana. He’ll make his first start for the club today after inking a minor-league deal this spring.

The groundwork for Santana’s ascension to the MLB roster had already been laid by the Chicago front office. There was already a 40-man roster spot to work with and the team optioned righty Carson Fulmer back to Triple-A yesterday.

It’ll be interesting to see what the 36-year-old Santana has left in the tank. He was sidelined for much of 2018 with a lingering finger injury and wasn’t effective when he was able to pitch. But he was stellar in the prior two seasons, turning in a 3.32 ERA over 392 2/3 total innings. The peripherals didn’t support quite those results, and expectations ought to be tempered, but there’s reason to hope he can return to being a solid MLB starter.

As for Fulmer, he’ll need to earn his way back into the majors or await an opening. He has now seen action in parts of four MLB seasons but hasn’t come close to fully harnessing the talent that led the South Siders to pick him eighth overall in the 2015 draft. Through 70 1/3 innings at the game’s highest level, Fulmer owns a 6.53 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 5.9 BB/9.

White Sox Lose Nicky Delmonico To Fractured Hand, Option Carson Fulmer

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White Sox outfielder Nicky Delmonico has been diagnosed with a fracture to the third metacarpal on his right hand, the club announced. Additionally, the team has elected to option righty Carson Fulmer after another rough outing tonight, as James Fegan of The Athletic was among those to tweet.

Delmonico is expected to miss approximately four to six weeks of action. The 25-year-old had turned in quite a promising debut effort in 2017. But he was struggling along with most of the rest of his team in the current campaign. Through 133 plate appearances, he carries only a .226/.331/.304 slash with 133 plate appearances.

That’ll put the organization’s outfield depth to the test, with Avisail Garcia already sidelined. Daniel Palka and Trayce Thompson could function in a platoon. The other options on the 40-man roster are Charlie Tilson and Ryan Cordell, though neither has hit well at all this year at Triple-A.

As for Fulmer, his outing today — which included eight earned runs and five walks in two innings — was just the latest sign of trouble. The former first-round pick has now allowed 29 earned runs with an unsightly 29:24 K/BB ratio in 32 1/3 innings on the year. He’s allowing home runs in bunches and generating a mediocre 6.7% swinging-strike rate, so there’s really not much in the way of positives at this point. Of course, he’s still just 24 years of age, so the Sox will hope he can still tap into his promise after some time at Triple-A.

Central Notes: Brewers, Gallardo, White Sox, Cubs

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In the wake of Wade Miley’s multi-week injury, the Brewers have set their season-opening starting five, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays. Brent Suter and Brandon Woodruff will fill out the rotation behind Chase Anderson, Zach Davies and Jhoulys Chacin, manager Craig Counsell announced Saturday. That spells bad news for offseason signing Yovani Gallardo, who won’t make the team, Haudricourt tweets. A highly successful Brewer from 2007-14, Gallardo rejoined the club for a non-guaranteed $2MM in December after spending time with the Rangers, Orioles and Mariners. The 32-year-old’s future is now in question. The Brewers could still trade Gallardo, according to general manager David Stearns. However, if no deal comes together by Monday, they’ll have to release him, per Haudricourt.

More on Milwaukee and a couple other Central teams…

  • The Brewers wouldn’t have had two open spots in their rotation if not for the right shoulder injury top starter Jimmy Nelson suffered late last year. Nelson continues to make progress in his recovery from September surgery and could start working from the mound again as early as mid-April, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports. Meanwhile, catcher Stephen Vogt – out since February with a shoulder issue of his own – is aiming to return to game action by May 1.
  • Like Milwaukee, the White Sox have also established their rotation for the beginning of the season. Righty Carson Fulmer has beaten out lefty Hector Santiago (who’s likely to stick around as a long reliever) for the No. 5 spot, Alyson Footer of MLB.com writes. Fulmer will round out a starting staff that’ll also feature James Shields, Lucas Giolito, Miguel Gonzalez and Reynaldo Lopez. Santiago, 30, signed a minors deal in February with the White Sox, with whom he pitched from 2011-13. Although Santiago has functioned as a starter for the majority of his career, he’s content to work in a relief role in his second go-round with the South Siders. “I’m open to whatever,” he said. “As long as I have a uniform on my back, I’m happy with the job that they give me. Right now, it’s in the bullpen as a long guy and I’ll be ready for any role.”
  • The Cubs are going with Victor Caratini, not Chris Gimenez, to back up starting catcher Willson Contreras, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. Thanks to his well-known rapport with new Cubs right-hander Yu Darvish from their days in Texas, Gimenez seemed like the front-runner for the job at the outset of spring training; instead, he’ll head to Triple-A Iowa, per Wittenmyer. The 24-year-old Caratini, whom MLB.com ranks as the Cubs’ No. 8 prospect, hit .254/.333/.356 across 66 plate appearances during his first MLB action last season.

White Sox To Promote Carson Fulmer

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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.

AL Central Notes: Indians, Sox, Bruce, Rodon, Buxton

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Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti joined ESPN’s Buster Olney on his podcast on Tuesday (audio link) and discussed a number of topics, including the recent suspension of Marlon Byrd, the breakout of super utilityman Jose Ramirez, Michael Brantley’s shoulder rehab, the upcoming amateur draft and the club’s financial flexibility as the trade deadline approaches. “I don’t expect that we’ll be limited,” said Antonetti. “In fact, the years in which we’ve been in contention, ownership’s always been great about providing us the resources that we would need to improve the team. I think that we’ll still always have to be cognizant of contracts that we take on, but if there’s the right player out there on the right deal, and the talent return is the right value for us, then I’m confident we’ll be able to improve the team.” Many expect Cleveland to be on the hunt for outfield help with Byrd and Abraham Almonte suspended due to failed PED tests and Brantley’s return still undetermined.

Elsewhere in the AL Central…

  • The White Sox aren’t planning to simply sit back idly after acquiring James Shields from the Padres, writes Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago. The amount of money that San Diego kicked in to cover the cost of Shields’ contract has the White Sox positioned to add “at least two more important cogs for a playoff push,” per Levine. Chief among the Sox’ needs at this point are a left-handed bat and a left-handed setup man for the bullpen. Levine lists Jay Bruce as a player of interest, though he notes that when the Sox spoke to the Reds about Bruce in Spring Training, Cincinnati was “adamant” that the Sox would have to cover at least $11MM of the $12.5MM that Bruce is earning in 2016. Beyond that, Levine writes that the chances of the South Siders parting with top prospects Tim Anderson and Carson Fulmer in any trade this season, regardless of target, are “close to zero.” For those interested in some names that could be available as targets for the Sox, MLBTR’s Jeff Todd penned an updated list of the game’s top trade candidates earlier today.
  • In other White Sox news, the team will skip the next start of left-hander Carlos Rodon due to discomfort in his neck which eventually extended into his arm, per CSN Chicago’s Dan Hayes (links to Twitter). The Sox had Rodon undergo an MRI as a precaution, but the test revealed no problems. GM Rick Hahn tells Hayes that Rodon wasn’t happy to be skipped, and Hayes notes that the problem appears to be short term in nature, as Rodon has been cleared to return to the mound. Miguel Gonzalez will start in his place on Thursday, and Rodon will rejoin the rotation following that.
  • Byron Buxton chatted with Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press about his recent demotion and the way in which it allowed him to refocus and reevaluate his approach at the plate. As Berardino notes, Buxton has hits in all six games since returning from Triple-A Rochester, including multi-hit games in his past three contests. Buxton batted .336/.403/.603 in his 29 games with Rochester and credited Triple-A hitting coach Chad Allen for helping him to restore his confidence at the plate. While the six games since his return are obviously too small a sample from which to glean any form of definitive insight, it’s also the best stretch of games he’s delivered this season.

Shields Notes: Padres, White Sox, Tigers

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The latest regarding right-hander James Shields, whom the Padres sent (along with cash) to the White Sox on Saturday for shortstop prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. and righty Erik Johnson:

  • Before agreeing to take Tatis and Johnson, the Padres asked the White Sox for their two best prospects, shortstop Tim Anderson and righty Carson Fulmer, per ESPN’s Jim Bowden (Twitter link).
  • In an effort to get a quality return for Shields, the Padres reached out to “every team in contention,” including the Tigers, reports Tony Paul of The Detroit News. Tigers executives listened to the Padres’ pitch, but they ultimately balked at their asking price, enabling division-rival Chicago to land the 34-year-old. Shields would have upgraded a Tigers rotation that has gotten particularly disastrous performances from Mike Pelfrey and the now-demoted Anibal Sanchez this year, though it’s unclear what they would have had to give up for him.
  • Padres general manager A.J. Preller doesn’t regret signing Shields to a lucrative long-term contract in 2015 and losing a first-round pick in the process, he told reporters Saturday (via Kirk Kenney of the San Diego Union-Tribune). “We wanted to get some excitement and see if we could put a contending club on the field,” said Preller, whose Padres have gone 97-122 since signing Shields. “It was more of a situation where it was, ‘Hey, let’s see if we can take a shot and compete and contend and win,’ knowing that if that didn’t work out at a point down the road knowing we had the ability to pump the brakes and go in a different direction.”
  • The White Sox will pay Shields $5MM this year and, if he doesn’t opt out of his contract at season’s end, $10MM in both 2017 and 2018. They’ll also be responsible for a $2MM buyout on his 2019 club option, according to Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago (Twitter link).

White Sox Sign Carson Fulmer

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The White Sox announced today that they have signed first-round pick Carson Fulmer to a minor league contract with a $3,470,600 signing bonus. The announced bonus matches the full slot value of Fulmer’s No. 8 overall selection (slot value via Baseball America). A right-handed pitcher out of Vanderbilt, Fulmer was advised by and is now a client of Icon Sports Management.

Carson Fulmer

Fulmer was one of the most interesting available players heading into the draft, with big-time stuff and a track record of excellence in major college ball, but also questions about whether he’ll be a big league starter in the long run. Having dominated the SEC with a 1.83 ERA and 13.1 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9, and featuring a sustainable, mid-90s heater with a very good curve and promising change, Fulmer is about as MLB-ready as drafted players come.

So what’s the downside? To an extent, it comes down to how you value near-term contributions versus long-term expectations, as Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs explained before the draft. Those prospect observers that attributed significant value to his near-big league readiness rated Fulmer as a top-ten prospect (McDaniel had him fifth, MLB.com ranked him 3rd, and Baseball America placed him sixth on its list).

But others, concerned with Fulmer’s high-effort delivery, relatively small stature, and lack of a consistent third pitch, put more weight on the idea that he has too great a chance of being relegated tot he pen in the long run. Keith Law of ESPN.com fell in the latter camp, placing Fulmer way down in the 43rd spot on his board.

Chicago, obviously, decided that Fulmer’s risky (but still high-ceiling) future outlook was worth taking on in order to add such an immediately impactful arm. With Fulmer now set to join an increasingly impressive stable of controllable starters — led by Chris Sale but also including Jose Quintana and last year’s third overall pick, Carlos Rodon — the White Sox rotation has quite a bit o potential. The team has now signed all of its choices from the first ten rounds.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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