Carson Fulmer gets latest chance for success with Orioles

The latest pitcher the Orioles wants to take a look at to see if they can tap into talent that must be there somewhere is right-hander Carson Fulmer. On July 25, Detroit claimed him off waivers from the Chicago White Sox, the club that had drafted him. On Aug. 24, Pittsburgh claimed him from Detroit. On Saturday, the Orioles claimed him from Pittsburgh.

That is four teams for Fulmer since late July. Quite a wild ride for a player that had a brilliant college career at Vanderbilt and was drafted No. 8 overall by the White Sox in 2015. In college, he went 24-3 with a 1.99 ERA between 2013 and 2015. In that 2015 draft, Vandy teammate Dansby Swanson was selected No. 1 overall by Arizona and teammate Walker Buehler went No. 24 to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

But Fulmer may have been rushed to the big leagues, joining the White Sox in July 2016, less than a year after he had been drafted and signed to a bonus of $3.47 million.

The O's have had initial success with 27-year-old Jorge López since claiming him on waivers on Aug. 9. As the 26-year-old Fulmer joins their bullpen tonight at Citi Field, can they go 2-for-2?

Fulmer said he is already excited about working with Orioles coaches after throwing a 35-pitch bullpen session Monday. During an eight-minute Zoom interview with Baltimore reporters this afternoon, he referenced getting back to how he threw as a collegian several times.

"I think it's a really big positive (joining the Orioles)," he said. "When I came out of Vanderbilt, I relied a lot on my competitiveness. Even from a young age, I didn't really worry about mechanics. I didn't really worry about how I'm going to get the ball there. It was, 'I'm going to rare back and throw it. I'm going to find a way to get guys out.' I think my first year of pro ball, I was able to do what I was drafted to do - that was to put our team in the best chance to win.

"But I think a lot of the mechanical changes and reps I wasn't really used to kind of put me in a little bit of a spin. But when I got here a couple of days ago, I was able to talk to the staff. They just want me to get back to the guy I was and the guy that was drafted where I was.

"I pulled up a lot of college video yesterday and was able to make a few adjustments in terms of just getting back to an athletic position. The staff just wants me to compete and I saw a lot of really good adjustments yesterday. So I want to get back to my Vandy days and to the pitcher I was. I think this is definitely the position I want to be in."

After trying to make repeated changes as he changed teams, Fulmer said the time may have come for less tweaking.

"It definitely is. I've had some days to really think about what my goal is right now," he said. "I had to be honest with myself quite a bit, as tough as that was. I've always been a very athletic person and just always relied on competing. That is what made me so good. Just getting back to that, I don't think it's going to be that big of a change.

"The staff here and the whole organization is behind me 100 percent. They're not going to make any adjustments that I don't feel comfortable with. They just want me to compete, so I think that is the biggest thing I have to do right now."

According to FanGraphs.com, Fulmer has not thrown his cutter this year. It was a pitch he threw 33 percent of the time last season. But in the small sample of 6 2/3 innings with Detroit earlier this year, where he allowed eight hits and five runs, he didn't throw a cutter. He used his fastball 55 percent at an average velocity of 92.3 mph with changeups 27 percent and curveballs 15 percent.

"It (less cutter usage) was actually one of the topics in yesterday's bullpen, which was interesting to me," said Fulmer. "I developed a cutter, I never threw it until I got to Chicago. It became a pretty good pitch for me, but that led to my fastball cutting and I had a velocity drop.

"Other organizations said, 'Hey let's get that true ride (back on your fastball).' Yesterday, I had that ride back, just with a few mechanical adjustments with everyone. I loved my cutter when I was starting for the second and third time though the order. I think it's a really good pitch and I don't want to get rid of it quite yet, but I'm not going to use it like I did in the past."

Fulmer was rated as the No. 2 White Sox prospect at the end of 2016, No. 7 a year later and No. 13 after the 2018 season. He is out of options, but hopes not out of chances as an major league pitcher. He even has hopes of returning to a rotation.

"I was drafted as a starter, and deep down, I do want to start again," he said. "I've been through a couple of teams the last month or so. I just think they're going to try and give me as many innings as possible to find that consistency. It's definitely (the last few weeks) brought a lot of things into perspective for me. It's motivated me a lot to get to where I was.

"I made it up in just a half a year out of college. You know, I did whatever I needed to do to make the next step. A lot of that was very uncomfortable for me and I've been given a great opportunity here. At the end of the day, this is my career and I still have a lot left in the tank. I strongly believe that. I believe that I will be a very dominant pitcher in this league for a long time. It is just having to get back to what I feel comfortable with."