Red Sox have former ROY, All-Star in camp hoping for ‘shot to make this team’

Michael Fulmer and the Red Sox agreed to a rare two-year minor league contract in February 2024.

Most minor league deals are for one year. But Fulmer and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow had a preexisting relationship and both sides liked the idea of a two-year deal with an eye on 2025 after a full year of the 31-year-old righty rehabbing from elbow surgery.

Michael Fulmer pitches for the Cubs in September 2023. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)AP

“I think it’s very generous of Brez,” Fulmer said Wednesday here at JetBlue Park. “I think just the fact I wasn’t going to pitch at all last year. I had Tommy John in October of ‘23. So there was no shot of me coming back at all. Full reconstruction and everything. So I think he was kind of looking forward to the second year of that deal. And obviously I was, too. It was (nice) to just to be with an organization — to be able to (work) with professional guys in the training room.”

Fulmer is one of the more interesting non-roster invitees at camp and will compete for a roster spot. He was a Mets first round pick in 2011. He won the 2016 AL Rookie of the Year with the Tigers when he posted a 3.06 ERA in 26 starts. He then also made the AL All-Star team in 2017.

He transitioned to the bullpen in 2021 after a difficult 2020 season. He had a lot of success as a reliever, posting a 3.43 ERA in 172 outings from 2021-23.

But the plan is for him to return to the starter role this year, something he talked about with Breslow back when he signed 12 months ago.

“I was with Breslow (before). He signed me when I was with the Cubs in 2023,” Fulmer said. “So we’ve had a background together and kind of known each other for a while.”

Breslow worked in the Cubs front office for five years. He was their assistant general manager and senior VP of pitching in 2023 when he signed Fulmer.

Breslow again reached out to Fulmer last offseason after Boston hired him to ask the righty about his plans coming off surgery. Fulmer mentioned that he’d like to try to return as a starting pitcher.

“I think that might be best to kind of develop a routine coming out of rehab,” Fulmer said. “He was all for it. So I’m thankful for that. If it sticks, it sticks. If it doesn’t, then I go back to the bullpen. I did the transition once and it was a fairly easy transition. I’ve enjoyed both (roles).”

Fulmer is healthy and a full-go this camp.

“Just happy to be healthy and hopefully have a shot to make this team,” he said.

Fulmer began throwing a sweeper in 2023 and it quickly became his most frequently used pitch and his best pitch. He threw it 30.5% of the time. Opponents batted .183 with a .156 expected batting average, .225 slugging percentage and .178 expected slugging percentage against it.

“I learned that in the offseason after the 2022 season,” Fulmer said. “So that was my first year throwing it. Kind of a little rocky at first; didn’t know where it was going so much. And then the more I got used to it toward the end of the year, I was throwing it probably the most and it’s the best it’s been.”

Fulmer also throws a four-seam fastball, cutter, sinker and changeup.

He induced a lot of soft contact in his 58 outings for Chicago in 2023. He ranked in the 95th percentile in hard hit percentage (30.3%) and 92nd percentile in average exit velocity (86.4 mph).

“It’s kind of the old-school way of pitching,” Fulmer said. “I feel like I can say that nowadays. It’s getting back to your starter mentality of try to finish at-bats three pitches or less, get deep into games, save the bullpen and go get a win. You try to miss barrels early in the count and miss bats late in the count. Not trying to overdo it too early and hope to get some ground balls and some weak popups.”

Fulmer has been working hard on improving his sinker.

“Our focus down here is try to get a little more depth on the sinker,” Fulmer said. “Try to transition from a two-seam to more of a one-seam type. And that’s kind of all brand new to me. (Rehab pitching coach) Nick Murray and these guys that worked with me all last year down here, they’ve been awesome describing pitch shapes and what we’re trying to do. And then Bails (pitching coach Andrew Bailey) has gotten in on the mix ever since he’s gotten down here. They do a great job of explaining everything and trying just to develop that extra weapon to differentiate from everything else.”

He said he tries to keep it simple.

“It’s not overthinking things. ... If a guy can’t hit something, you throw it until he can prove he can hit it,” he said. “If a guy’s not seeing a cutter, then you stay with the cutter.”

Fulmer is appreciative to the Fort Myers staff that worked with him throughout last year. He mentioned minor league rehab coordinator Kevin Avila and minor league rehab specialist Joel Harris.

“These guys were with me all last year. They’ve done a phenomenal job and I can’t thank them enough.”

Fulmer mentioned it was “weird” this offseason to be Rule 5 Draft eligible. The Red Sox took a chance leaving him unprotected and nobody drafted him.

“I didn’t realize it until basically a couple weeks before the Rule 5,” he said. “Someone told me about it and I reached out to my agent. ... But after not pitching for the whole year — nobody really seeing me or anything — I’d rather get healthy in the quiet and get ready to come back for this year.”