Dr. Dinger

Obviously, it's not up to him, and this is pie-in-the-sky, but: In addition to showcasing his slugging ability, Guerrero Jr., a former outfielder, is hoping to improve at third base, a position the Jays started playing him at last fall. “I feel a little different because I haven’t really gotten the feel for third base, but I am hoping to get the feel for third base before the season starts.” His goal is to impress the Blue Jays enough to warrant a roster spot on the Vancouver Canadians, Toronto’s class-A short season affiliate. A year from now, Guerrero Jr. expects to be playing double-A baseball in the Blue Jays system. He is committed to making the Blue Jays roster before he turns 20.

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

Vlad Jr. having some early success. After last night's outburst: .832 OPS, .219 ISO, 12.9 K%, 10.5 BB% thru his first 85 PA He might be in line for a promotion to Vancouver in the near future.

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

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.

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

Henry Owens was scratched for his start too.

Sawx acquire Pom. Can't wait to see what Dumbrowski gave up. I'm guessing Devers + Kopech.

Gotcha. Well, can't blame him for aiming high, Pomeranz is his only good trade chip and his franchise is a shambles.

Tits.

You're assuming durability though, that's a tough assumption for Pomeranz. In years past he has repeatedly worn down and found himself back in the pen. I will be interested to see what he fetches, most likely it will be a Top 50 prospect (Devers or Brinson/Gallo) and then some.

Is Diepdich still good? I haven't looked in a couple months.

I wasn't even sure if you were talking about me or possibly Davidi, the subject was poorly clarified. I'm still not sure what you meant.

I doubt we even have the pieces to get it done. Texas is in on him, so is Boston, and they both have much better farms and much more aggressive GMs.

His HR/FB is about 2 points lower than his career rate, and it goes without saying that Petco suppresses HRs more than RC. Beyond that, his BABIP is unsustainably low and his xFIP isn't that much better than his career xFIP. He's changed his pitch mix this year and had success, but he's also been a bit lucky, and he's also lost 1.5 MPH off his FB. I just don't really trust that his gains are sustainable considering his 90.0 MPH FB and long history of sup-bar control, plus injuries.

I'm confused, are you saying I overvalued Matt Kemp? I don't remember ever having an opinion on him.

It would make sense that the Jays are interested, since Pomeranz was a 1st round pick of Shapiro back in 2010. However, I would expect him not to receive the same HR suppression if he came here, his ERA would probably fall closer in line with his xFIP (3.66). I wouldn't give up the farm for him, I think he's more of an SP3/4 going forward than the breakout ace some people want to anoint him as. The rumours I've read say that the price tag on him is sky high.

Dickey wouldn't take a 2 year, $20M deal if he had a QO available, and no team is going to give up their pick to sign Dickey.

Thank f***ing god I don't have to listen to Buck butcher that name any more.

Realistically, AAV around $20M and 3-4 years.

Any investigation into said comments is almost certainly at the behest of the Blue Jays, and rightly so.

Good. Suspend him.

He could be an interesting reliever between suspensions.

Dude, there's not going to be a comp pick for Dickey. You gotta let go of that dream.

Felix and his 90 MPH change? Dude, that's his fastball now.