Fulmer has been a prized prospect within the White Sox’ system for the past couple of years, and I was able to get a view of him in his last start August 9 at Pawtucket, where he was roughed up for four earned runs over 5 1/3 innings, giving up four hits and walking four, while striking out seven in a 6-5 loss to the PawSox.

Fulmer is an average athlete with a semi-power arm who was having trouble repeating his herky-jerky delivery in this viewing, and who has had some trouble finding the strike zone over his past six starts, walking 22 batters over his last 34 1/3 innings (5.77 BB/9). He has a short arm action, and there is some violence to the delivery. The speed of his delivery offers some deception but he rushes it, at the expense of his command.

He had average fastball velocity in this viewing, sitting 91-to-94 mph with most readings at 92 mph, and he while he gets some run and tail on the pitch, too many of them were center-cut offerings that were subject to hard contact, and he is in need of more consistent command and movement in the zone to most effective. Both the velo and the movement project as average, and the command is below average presently. His cut fastball was above average, siting in the 87-to-89 mph range with short, quick deceptive action though the movement needs to develop more consistency. The curveball projects as an average offering in the 79-to-81 mph range with 11-to-5 break, and also showed inconsistent shape. The slider was more of a slurve, and looked below average.

The fastball command and the control issues have carried over into 2017, where despite some marginal improvement he is still siting on a well-below-average 4.67 BB/9 rate that is trending the wrong way as the season goes on, and it’s resulting in shorter outings and higher pitch counts. Both the delivery and the arm action seem to fit better in a reliever’s role, where the fastball velocity could play up a tick, and where the command and control profile would become more tolerable. I see Fulmer as a Role 40, sixth- to seventh-inning reliever, with a ceiling of a Role 50 set-up man with the fastball/cutter combination – but it’s all predicated on where the command and control profile ultimately settles.