Mariners sign former first-rounder to minors pact

The Mariners have signed Carson Fulmer to a minor league pact, according to the right-hander’s MLB.com profile page. Fulmer has been assigned to Triple-A Tacoma.

After pitching 130 2/3 innings and appearing in every season from 2016-21, Fulmer didn’t see any big league action in 2022. The Dodgers acquired Fulmer on a waiver claim last winter and briefly selected him to their active roster at the end of April, but Fulmer was designated for assignment a few days later without appearing in a game. Los Angeles then outrighted Fulmer to Triple-A, where he spent the rest of the season before electing minor league free agency in October.

The year at Triple-A had mixed results, as while Fulmer had a 2.86 ERA over 56 2/3 innings for Oklahoma City, his 25.6% strikeout rate was only decent, and his 14.5% walk rate was well below average. A .230 BABIP seems to have greatly aided Fulmer in limiting damage, which could partially be why the Dodgers didn’t give him another call-up despite that quality ERA.

The White Sox selected Fulmer with the eighth overall pick of the 2015 draft, and he made his MLB debut just a year later. However, the righty didn’t live up to high expectations, posting a 6.56 ERA over 94 2/3 innings with Chicago before being designated for assignment in July 2020. This move sparked a flurry of transactions for the out-of-options Fulmer, who went to the Tigers, Pirates, Orioles, again to the Pirates, then to the Reds on a series of waiver claims in a span of under eight months. Cincinnati’s claim in March 2021 ended the carousel to some extent, as Fulmer spent the entire 2021 season in the Reds organization, but he struggled to a 6.66 ERA over 25 2/3 MLB innings.