The Giants revealed their list of non-roster spring training invitations. There weren't a lot of surprises but a name that is causing some buzz is Michael Fulmer RHP. Once upon a time, Fulmer was one of the best young pitchers in the game for the Tigers before his career got derailed by a series of injuries. He made a comeback as a reliever for the Cubs in 2023 but then missed the entire 2024 season after a revision of his previous Tommy John surgery. He rehabbed his way through AAA stops with 4 different organizations in 2025 but appeared in just 3 MLB games between the Cubs and Red Sox. Let's break it down:
Michael Fulmer RHP. DOB: 3/15/1993. 6' 3", 224 lbs.
2023(Cubs): 3-5, 4.42, 57 IP, 10.26 K/9, 4.42 BB/9, 2 Saves, 94.3 vFA.
2025(AAA-4 teams): 1-3, 3.39, 66.1 IP, 11.67 K/9, 3.93 BB/9, 5 Saves.
2025(MLB- Cubs, Red Sox): 0-0, 4.76, 5.2 IP, 4.76 K/9, 3.18 BB/9, 93.5 vFA.
While the K/BB at the MLB level is not great, it's an extremely small sample and the AAA numbers look much better. The FB is is a couple of ticks down from the 96 MPH at his peak but is also not terrible. 2026 will be his second season back from surgery which sometimes correlates with an uptick in performance. You don't have to squint too hard to see Fulmer making the Opening Day roster out of the bullpen and even taking on some Save Opps during the season.
This kind of underscores a wild hair up my butt, which is TJ survivors. Their value is so discounted after they blow out their pesky ACL, that it discounts their value way below their core skills. I always thought a team could do well putting together a special TJ clinic with the best medical, rehab and patience available, and grabbing every TJ kid they could. I'm not saying that every kid comes back from TJ, but many do, and if they spend their rehab time building leg and core strength, in classroom analysis of pitching, give them the best medical and rehab available , give them a peer group going through the same process and recognize that each pitcher rehabs at at different speed , a team could really clean up. /PH
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