A Very Darrelly Dynasty League

[Dr. Dinger]

Tits.

[Dr. Dinger]

White Sox calling up Carson Fulmer already? Such a White Sox thing to do.

[BTS]

White Sox calling up Carson Fulmer already? Such a White Sox thing to do.

 

Rushed to AA for no reason. Rushed to MLB for no reason. Now he's probably a long-term reliever because his results have been predictably bad.

[Dr. Dinger]

Rushed to AA for no reason. Rushed to MLB for no reason. Now he's probably a long-term reliever because his results have been predictably bad.

 

Apparently earlier in the season, the Sox tried to slow down his delivery, which led to the command issues. He's since gone back to his quick delivery, and the results have been a lot better. Since June 2: 54 K/17 BB in 41 IP, 2.40 FIP. I guess there's an argument to be made that if they're going to just make him a reliever, he doesn't have any more development to do in the minors.

[Laika]

The White Sox are on a developmental island, that's for sure.

 

Club developmental philosophies:

 

White Sox - promote the first rounder ASAP

Twins - strikeouts are overrated

Texas - acquire all the Mexicans and let them cook

Rays - Computer says do this...

Dodgers - $$$$$$$$$$$$$

Seattle - hmmmm, how can we ruin this promising hitter?

Angels - prospects? huh?

Yankees - run 'em through the hype machine, boys.

Cardinals - show them the Cardinal way (waves magic wand)

Giants - sprinkle Bochi dust on recent promotions

Rockies - no f***ing idea how to do anything

Toronto - maybe Keith Law will like... this guy!

[Dr. Dinger]

The Call-Up

 

Carson Fulmer

 

by Christopher Crawford and George Bissell

The Situation: The All-Star break has come and gone, and we’ll start to see teams in contention begin to bring in reinforcements internally and externally. One of those teams is the White Sox. One of those players is Carson Fulmer. You can probably see where this is going, but just in case it didn’t smack you in the face, Fulmer is coming up to help the White Sox and their not-so-great bullpen.

Background: Fulmer was a potential top 100 pick coming out of All Saints Academy in Winter Haven, Florida, and the Red Sox made a run at signing him after taking him in the 15th round of the 2012 draft. His stock soared upon entering Vanderbilt, helping lead the Commodores to a College World Series title in 2014 and finishing second in his junior year. The White Sox took him eighth in the 2015 draft. He dominated hitters in High-A Winston-Salem upon signing, but he had his share of struggles this spring, as seen in his 4.76 ERA at Double-A Birmingham. He has given up just two runs his his last 20 innings, however, and after an impressive showing at the Futures Game this Sunday, the White Sox believe he’s ready to contribute to the big-league staff.

Scouting Report: We use the phrase “electric” to describe stuff a lot, but outside of a pitcher that requires an outlet, this is as close as it gets to being the real mccoy. Not only does his fastball get into the high 90s, it also has a swear-ton of movement, running away from left-handed hitters like a circle change at times.

If you sit on the heater you can be made to look quite the fool by Fulmer’s curveball; a pitch that he adds and subtracts velocity from while always showing impressive spin and depth. It’s not often a strike, but his arm speed is so impressive and the break is so late that he gets away with it (most of the time, and more on that later). The change isn’t anywhere near the level of the heater and curve, and better hitters might be able to pick up the offering. It does have some late fade, however, and it’s certainly a good enough pitch to allow him to start.

As good as that stuff is, the command leaves a lot to be desired. Fulmer has a lot of moving parts in his delivery, and there’s some effort to the delivery as well. That leads to him missing his spots—a lot—and falling behind in counts/issuing walks. When you add the effort/inconsistent mechanics to the fact that he’s only 6-feet tall and svelte of build, and there are both short and long-term concerns about his ability to throw enough strikes to start. The walks also have come in bunches, as he’s had six starts with four walks or more. It’s not impossible for him to start because the stuff is so good, but it’s an uphill battle, to be sure.

Immediate Big-League Future: Have you ever said something and then realized you didn’t really mean it until just now? I’ve written dozens of times that if player x throws strikes he’ll be successful, but I don’t think I’ve ever meant it til, well, now. When Fulmer gets ahead in the count, he’s not fair, and he can get left and right-handed hitters out with his top of the rotation stuff. When he doesn’t, it doesn’t matter how good that stuff is, you simply can’t get big-league hitters out when you’re consistently creating self-inflicted damage or behind in counts. Since Fulmer is coming out of the bullpen the command problems won’t be as blatant, but if he’s going to be trusted late in games, he’ll need to show at least passable control. The long-term upside is a no. 2 starter who will miss plenty of bats, the floor is reliever, and maybe not a high-leverage one if he keeps walking guys. It’ll be fun to see which version we get this summer. —Christopher Crawford

Fantasy Take: With Carlos Rodon on the shelf with a left wrist sprain, the highly touted 22-year-old right-hander will join the White Sox rotation on a temporary basis. As the Vanderbilt product showed with a perfect inning at the Futures Game in San Diego last weekend, he clearly possesses the raw stuff to succeed at the major-league level. Yet, he’s struggled to put it together consistently in the minor leagues this season. In 17 starts at Double-A Birmingham, Fulmer owns a 4.76 ERA with 90 strikeouts and 51 walks over 87 innings.

Fulmer’s talent and considerable strikeout upside is enough to warrant a small FAAB investment in deeper mixed leagues and AL-only formats, but given that he is bullpen bound and the inherent performance risks, he’s not a highly sought fantasy commodity right now. The future is bright for Fulmer, but he might not be ready to make a major fantasy impact in 2016. —George Bissell

[Laika]

holy f***

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/kopech-hits-105-mph-against-wilmington/#KjZQdiYimWfmWClK.97

[Dr. Dinger]

I can only assume he gained some sort of mystical Rookie of the Year type superpowers when he broke his hand back in March.

[Laika]

his hand tendons are freakishly tight!

[Dr. Dinger]

Christin Stewart needs a promotion to AA, he's absolutely demolishing the FSL with a .438 wOBA, 21 HR, 18.5 BB%, .288 ISO. Imagine his numbers if he played in the CAL.

 

Also, LOL: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/07/tigers-prospect-christin-stewart-admits-that-hecklers-call-him-bella

[Laika]

A's demote Billy Burns, promote Ryon Healy! let's see what he can do

[Dr. Dinger]

I'm the Dave Dombrowski of DDL, aren't I?

[BTS]

I'm the Dave Dombrowski of DDL, aren't I?

 

Yes.

[Laika]

I dunno, when Dombrowski trades a prospect they generally never blossom.

 

Contreras instantly turned into the most productive and valuable player in your deal. .400 wOBA catcher, wow!

 

And for Sabathia+! wow

[Dr. Dinger]

I dunno, when Dombrowski trades a prospect they generally never blossom.

 

Contreras instantly turned into the most productive and valuable player in your deal. .400 wOBA catcher, wow!

 

And for Sabathia+! wow

 

According to Yahoo, Miller has been the best RP in this format and #15 overall this season. I do wish I had another share of Contreras, though.

[Boxcar]

Groome signed, thank god.

 

I know you guys were waiting with bated breath and all. I hope he doesn't suck!

Edited July 15, 2016 by Boxcar

[Dr. Dinger]

Just curious, as I haven't bothered to check: have any high school draftees from our original MiLB draft made it to the majors yet?

 

Groome is like 4,000 years away.

[Boxcar]

It's bated breath ya numpty, unless you're downing worms?

 

Thanks.

[Laika]

Just curious, as I haven't bothered to check: have any high school draftees from our original MiLB draft made it to the majors yet?

 

Groome is like 4,000 years away.

 

I don't think any high school players picked in the 2013 MLB draft have even debuted. For the most part, the good college picks from that draft are just breaking through this year.

 

But a number of high school picks from the 2012 draft, which fed our first MiLB draft, have debuted. Some good ones too.

[Boxcar]

Just curious, as I haven't bothered to check: have any high school draftees from our original MiLB draft made it to the majors yet?

 

Groome is like 4,000 years away.

 

I'm gonna count internationals signed young for this purpose

 

Albert Almora

Taijuan Walker

Miguel Sano

Xander Bogaerts

Christian Yelich

Travis d'Arnaud

Javier Baez

Jose Fernandez

Francisco Lindor

Byron Buxton

Carlos Correa

Addison Russell

Aaron Sanchez

Roberto Osuna

Jon Singleton

Greg Polanco

Noah Syndergaard

 

k i'm bored now

[Laika]

Syndergaard was drafted in like 2010... and we had our first draft in the offseason before 2013. Most of the guys you name weren't 2012 picks.

 

Dinger, I think, was asking about fresh HS draftees.

[Dr. Dinger]

I meant 2013 high school draftees, not just any guy who was drafted out of high school.

[TRM]

Jon Singleton lol I was obsessed with him.

Fortunately it's impossible to trade with jaysblue so I never made a crippling error

[Boxcar]

Syndergaard was drafted in like 2010... and we had our first draft in the offseason before 2013. Most of the guys you name weren't 2012 picks.

 

Dinger, I think, was asking about fresh HS draftees.

 

My bad.

[TheHurl]

I don't think any high school players picked in the 2013 MLB draft have even debuted. For the most part, the good college picks from that draft are just breaking through this year.

 

But a number of high school picks from the 2012 draft, which fed our first MiLB draft, have debuted. Some good ones too.

 

Tyler Danish was the first High Schooler to debut from that draft, and I'm not sure he did anything to deserve that. Most would be AA by now. Meadows and Crawford are the most prominent ones I can think of that made their AAA debut but I'm sure there are many more.

[TheHurl]

A's demote Billy Burns, promote Ryon Healy! let's see what he can do

 

Not a bad start

[TheHurl]

Finally Rich Hill's 75 year old ass is dead.

[BTS]

Finally Rich Hill's 75 year old ass is dead.

 

Career-ending blister?

[TheHurl]

Career-ending blister?

 

you know how hard it is to recover at this age, career done.

[Laika]

Micheal Kopech & Chris Paddack