What To Expect: Michael Fulmer

Some teams would keep a pitcher with just three Triple-A starts in the minors longer, but with Tigers starting pitchers other than Jordan Zimmermann struggling, the team called up righthander Michael Fulmer to make his major league debut on Friday.

The Mets drafted Fulmer out of high school as a supplemental first-round pick in 2011. He had a breakthrough season in 2015, when he reached Double-A and became one of the top prospects in the system. At the trade deadline last year, the Mets traded Fulmer and righthander Luis Cessa to the Tigers to acquire Yoenis Cespedes. Fulmer switched Eastern League teams from Binghamton to Erie and led the league in ERA, then ranked as the Tigers’ No. 1 prospect entering the 2016 season. In three Triple-A starts, Fulmer has a 4.11 ERA with 20 strikeouts and five walks in 15 1/3 innings.

SCOUTING REPORT

Fulmer works off a pair of plus pitches in his fastball and slider. The fastball sits at 91-94 mph and can reach 97, with hard, heavy sink that results in a high groundball rate and a lot of weak contact. When Fulmer needs to put hitters away, he generates swing and miss with his power slider, a sharp-breaking pitch with a lot of depth. He will mix in an occasional curveball and a changeup too, but the fastball and slider are his primary weapons. Fulmer’s ability to throw consistent strikes should help aid his transition to the majors. Durability is still a question mark for Fulmer—knee and elbow surgeries have slowed his development—with his 124 2/3 innings last year a career high.

WHAT TO EXPECT

It was a head-scratcher when the Tigers signed Mike Pelfrey to a two-year, $16 million contract this offseason, especially since Fulmer is already a superior pitcher. Fulmer has a chance to develop into a No. 3 starter and could emerge in that role right away, though a safer bet would have him a notch below that, especially as he continues to develop his changeup. Despite his limited Triple-A time, Fulmer has the upside to get off to a fast start and upgrade Detroit’s rotation, though it bears watching how he will hold up later in the season and how the Tigers will handle his workload at that point given his history.