The Boston Red Sox have already improved their starting rotation this offseason, allowing Nick Pivetta to hit the market and replacing him with Garrett Crochet, who they acquired in a trade with the Chicago White Sox.
However, they may be using one of their returning pitchers, Michael Fulmer, in a new role in 2025 after he missed the entire 2024 season with an injury.
“He’s a guy we actually signed with an eye on — once he’s completely healthy — building him out, whether that’s as a starting pitcher or someone who can handle bulk, leverage innings,” Breslow said (via. MassLive). “It’s something we still feel confident in. He’s making quite a bit of progress throwing pain-free and having a fairly normal offseason at this point. We’re optimistic both about his recovery and the contributions he can make just given what we saw when he was pitching as a reliever prior to him getting hurt.”
Fulmer, 31, was a first-round pick of the New York Mets in the 2011 MLB draft. He was traded to the Detroit Tigers in 2015 for Yoenis Cespedes and debuted with the club in 2016.
During his time with Detroit, he earned Rookie of the Year honors in 2016 and All-Star honors in 2017. He was traded to the Minnesota Twins in 2022 and spent the 2023 season with the Chicago Cubs.
At the end of that lone year in Chicago, he had UCL surgery which would cost him the entire 2024 season. Knowing that, Boston signed him to a two-year, minor-league contract last February.
While Fulmer started his major league career as a starter, he spent his last three seasons as a reliever. Before the injury, he posted a 4.42 ERA, 1.333 WHIP and 10.3 K/9 in 57 innings over 58 appearances in 2023.
Fulmer was eligible to be selected away from Boston in the Rule 5 Draft, but he remained with the Red Sox.
Breslow may have said this before Crochet was acquired, but there’s still a chance that Fulmer fills a role similar to Josh Winckowski or Kutter Crawford in recent years where he can do both if needed due to injuries.
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