Carson Fulmer Pitches Scoreless Inning in Futures Game

The White Sox top-ranked prospect Carson Fulmer pitched one scoreless inning in the futures game for the American Team. He struck out the first two batters and then got the last hitter to ground out for a 1-2-3 inning.

Fulmer faced Indians catching prospect Fransisco Mejia and Mets prospects, second baseman Dillon Herrera and shortstop Amed Rosario. Meija is the 84th ranked prospect by Baseball America, Herrera its 82nd and Rosario its 78th.

Mejia led off the inning. Fulmer mixed his pitches well and changed speeds. Mejia swung and missed at two changeups. He was caught looking at strike three on a 93 mile per hour fastball.

Herrera was next. Fulmer’s 94 MPH fastball was called for strike one, Herrera swung and missed on an 89 MPH cutter for strike two. He fouled off the third pitch on a 94 MPH four-seam fastball. He took ball one on the fourth pitch on a 79 MPH curve and was caught looking for strike three on an 81 MPH curveball.

Rosario was up third. He swung and missed on a 91 MPH four-seam fastball for strike one. Took ball one on a 94 MPH four-seamer and then grounded out to Astros prospect Alex Bregman on a 91 MPH four-seamer.

Playing against the best prospects in baseball, his outing is encouraging. Fulmer has been used as a starter in his first two years of professional baseball. Whitesox.com beat writer Scott Merkin reported earlier in the week that Fulmer could come out of the bullpen when and if the White Sox call him up this season.

"Via CBSSports.Com, Merkin quoted pitching coach Don Cooper: . “I’ve been thinking that for a while,” White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper said. “We did it with (Chris) Sale for a year and a half. Why wouldn’t it be the same deal with him? Maybe getting your feet wet in relief, finding spots and getting some experience, getting a lay of the land. We’ll make a change if and when we think it’s appropriate.”"

Fulmer has had an up and down season with the AA Southern League’s Birmingham Barons this season.  He’s 4-9 with a 4.76 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP in 17 starts. He struggled for about a month before pitching very well in his last three starts.

Next: White Sox Weekly Farm Report July 10-July 16

He threw 19 innings, giving up just ten hits and nine walks over the last three starts. He struck out 2, lowered his ERA from 5.82, his batting average against from .272 to .248 and WHIP from 1.68 to 1.52.