Starting pitcher Daniel Norris of the Detroit Tigers, who was acquired in the David Price trade from the Toronto Blue Jays, was placed on the DL with an oblique injury after the Tigers won on Wednesday 15-8 over the Chicago Cubs. The Tigers are still in the wild card race (only 4.5 games behind the Los Angeles Angels for the second wild card spot) so they might call up one of their top prospects, Michael Fulmer, to replace Norris, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
Fulmer was also acquired by the Tigers during the trade deadline in the deal that sent Yoenis Cespedes to the New York Mets. Fulmer is currently pitching for the Tigers double-a affiliate in Erie, but he has been rock solid all year and warrants consideration for a promotion to the big leagues.
Fulmer is reportedly on a list of five guys that could possibly be called up including Kyle Lobstein, Buck Farmer, Alex Wilson, and Kyle Ryan, according to James Schmehl of MLive.com. Fulmer has only made three starts in Erie for the Tigers and has yet to throw a pitch in triple-a, but he might have the most upside of those five guys.
Fulmer is currently ranked as the Tigers number four prospect right behind Farmer, according to MLB.com, but he has had an outstanding season. In 19 games between the Mets system and the Tigers system Fulmer is 8-3 with a 1.97 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP while striking out almost a batter per inning.
Fulmer features a plus fastball that can reach as high as 98 and also has wipeout slider that gets him a lot of swings and misses. Fulmer came into the season ranked as the Mets 17th best prospect, so this season has really opened people's eyes up to how good the 22-year-old can be. The Tigers still have a realistic shot at making the playoffs, so it may make sense to bring up Fulmer, as he is having a great year and the worst case scenario is that he gets his feet wet for next season.
