Pirates claim former 1st-rounder Fulmer
PITTSBURGH -- The Pirates claimed right-hander Carson Fulmer off waivers from the Tigers on Monday, taking a gamble on the upside previously shown by the eighth overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft.
Detroit designated the 26-year-old Fulmer for assignment on Thursday after he made seven relief appearances this season. Fulmer allowed five runs on eight hits and three walks while striking out seven over 6 2/3 innings.
Fulmer is out of Minor League options, so the Pirates will have to make a move to add him to their active roster whenever he joins the team. Pittsburgh was off Monday, traveling to Chicago before a two-game series against the White Sox that begins Tuesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field.
To make room for Fulmer on the 40-man roster, Pittsburgh designated outfielder Guillermo Heredia for assignment. The Pirates signed Heredia over the offseason, but they optioned him to their alternate training site in Altoona, Pa., on Aug. 6. The club has instead given playing time to Cole Tucker in right and center field, the positions Heredia was signed to play.
Fulmer made his Major League debut for the White Sox on July 17, 2016, a little more than a year after he was drafted out of Vanderbilt University, but he has struggled throughout his time in the Majors. He is 6-9 with a 6.57 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP in 101 1/3 innings over 51 outings, including 15 starts, over parts of five seasons.
The Tigers claimed Fulmer off waivers from the White Sox on July 25 and sent him to the bullpen. He showed flashes of his former first-round talent, increasing his swing-and-miss rate to a career-high 29.8 percent, but his command remained inconsistent and his four-seam fastball velocity dropped from 93.6 mph last year to 92.3 mph this season.
Detroit shuffled its pitching staff after calling up prospects Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal and simply ran out of innings for a reclamation project like Fulmer. But the Pirates are in need of healthy arms and in a position to take a bet on Fulmer’s upside, so they claimed him before a stretch in which they’ll play 15 games in 13 days.
Fulmer is a former Vanderbilt teammate of Pirates left fielder Bryan Reynolds. Coincidentally, Fulmer and Reynolds lost the 2015 College World Series to a Virginia team led by Pirates lefty Brandon Waddell. Fulmer and Waddell were two of the winning pitchers in that College World Series, and they joined Reynolds on the CWS All-Tournament Team.