Chicago White Sox: Top Five Priorities for the 2016-17 Offseason
2. What Is Carson Fulmer?
When looking at how the White Sox approach the draft, a clear trend emerges. Not only do they take high level college talent often, but they also have the tendency to push those guys to the major leagues. That philosophy has never been clearly when looking at how they handled their 2014 and 2015 first round picks.
A few years ago, the White Sox took former North Carolina St. pitcher Carlos Rodon with the third overall pick. About a year later, the then 22-year-old was making his debut in the major leagues. This season Rodon was a full-time starter who performed admirably behind Sale and Quintana in the club’s starting rotation.
Things have not gone as well for their 2015 first round pick Carson Fulmer. Like Rodon, Fulmer has tremendous pure stuff and pitched for one of the premier baseball programs in the country at Vanderbilt. White Sox brass also pushed him through the minors and he found himself on the big league roster just a year out from being drafted.
Former manager Robin Ventura placed the 22-year-old right-hander in the bullpen, but the results were shaky to say the least. In eight appearances as a relief pitcher he surrendered 11 earned runs, walked seven and struck out ten. So while his putout numbers were fairly solid given his power stuff, his walk rate of 5.4 batters per nine innings is going to have to be improved upon.
What Rick Renteria is going to have to figure out is whether Fulmer is a future back-of-the-bullpen guy or whether he will be a starter long-term. There was much debate with Fulmer heading into the draft because while his stuff is elite, there were questions about his consistency and whether he could sustain in a starting role. This season didn’t quiet those concerns as he struggled with command and looked out-of-place at the major league level.
The White Sox pushed Rodon into the starting rotation two years out from being drafted, but will they do the same with Fulmer? If it were up to me, I would give him a shot at cracking the starting rotation. His stuff is too good to not afford him the opportunity to prove himself in a starting role. If need be, he can start next year in the minors and work on becoming a more consistent pitcher. Then if he continues to falter, stick him in the bullpen and see what happens.