The Red Sox are exploring all avenues when it comes to strengthening their rotation. After trading for White Sox ace Garrett Crochet, Boston is still looking into both the trade and free markets for starting pitching. Not only that, but it sounds like they might be considering at least one creative internal option, too.
Speaking to reporters at the Winter Meetings, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow suggested Michael Fulmer could potentially start for the Red Sox in 2025 (per Chris Cotillo of MassLive). Why is that surprising? The veteran right-hander, who is recovering from UCL surgery, has not pitched since 2023. More to the point, he has not been a regular starter since the 2020 season. He has not thrown more than five innings in an outing since September 2018.
Fulmer, 32 in March, was a sturdy starting pitcher over his first three MLB seasons. He won AL Rookie of the Year honors with the Tigers in 2016 and earned an All-Star selection the following year. Overall, from 2016-18, he made 75 starts, tossing 456 innings with a 3.81 ERA and 4.32 SIERA. Unfortunately, a history of elbow issues came to a head in 2019, when Tommy John surgery forced him to miss the entire season. When he returned in 2020, he was utterly disastrous. His velocity was down, and he pitched to an 8.78 ERA and 5.58 SIERA over 10 starts. It was hardly surprising when Detroit moved him to the bullpen in 2021.
On the bright side, Fulmer was an effective, if not especially dominant, reliever from 2021-23. Over 172 appearances out of the bullpen with the Tigers, Twins, and Cubs, he pitched to a 3.43 ERA and 3.71 SIERA, racking up 19 saves and 45 holds. Never a big strikeout arm during his years as a starter, he struck out more than a quarter of the batters he faced in relief. That said, his most important skill was his ability to limit hard contact and home runs.
At the end of the 2023 season, his elbow trouble reared its ugly head once more. Fulmer underwent UCL revision surgery in October that would keep him on the shelf for at least a year. He then signed a two-year minor league contract with the Red Sox and spent the 2024 season rehabbing with the organization. Until recently, there had been very little news regarding his progress. In October, he told WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford (X link) that he was trending toward a return for spring training. Then, earlier this week, Breslow provided a similarly positive update, “There’s certainly a pretty clear path to [Fulmler] being ready for Opening Day.”
If Fulmer is healthy and ready to pitch this spring, the Red Sox will try to stretch him out. That could mean building him up for a role in the rotation. However, if that proves to be too ambitious, he could be a multi-inning arm out of the bullpen instead. Interestingly, that’s a role he has never really played before. As a former starter, he presumably has the skills for long relief. Yet, when he was a regular reliever from 2021-23, Fulmer threw 175 2/3 frames over 172 appearances. That’s an average of just over one inning per game. Even so, the Red Sox have faith in Fulmer to take on some sort of bulk role. Breslow suggested that’s why they targetted him in the first place, saying “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.”
Cotillo notes that Fulmer will earn $1.5MM if he is on Boston’s roster in 2025. He can also earn another $500K in incentives.
As things stand, the Red Sox have four seeming locks for their Opening Day rotation: Crochet, Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, and Kutter Crawford. Barring a setback in his recovery from internal brace surgery, Lucas Giolito will also join the rotation at some point in the year. However, it’s not yet clear if he’ll be ready by the beginning of the year. Behind those five on the depth chart are Richard Fitts, who has just four MLB starts under his belt, and Cooper Criswell, who was solid but not especially impressive over 99 1/3 innings in 2024. Thus, it’s not hard to see why the Red Sox remain active in their pursuit of pitching, whether it be a more significant addition or a depth move. Transitioning Fulmer to the rotation falls into the latter category. He is unlikely to be a particularly impactful arm – that would explain why no other team selected him in the Rule 5 draft– but there’s no such thing as too much pitching depth.
Burnes, Flaherty, Castillo……. Let’s go Fulmer.
They are not penciling him into the starting rotation. Here are Breslow’s quotes from the Cotillo article:
“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. “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.”
“There’s certainly a pretty clear path to him being ready for Opening Day,” Breslow said. “But at the same time, that doesn’t mean that if he’s not, that means there was some significant setback we can point to. Recovery is kind of a long and winding road.”
“We evaluate each of those decisions on a case-by-case basis and we look at the combination of the ability to impact our team, probability of selection and health,” Breslow said before the Rule 5 draft. “Our desired outcome is that Fulmer is pitching for the Boston Red Sox and helping him win games. We also understand we can only protect so many guys and if there’s a team that wants to take a chance, at this point, there’s not a whole lot we can do.”
“Michael and I have a relationship going back to our time in Chicago,” Breslow said. “Any conversation about Michael starts with just the quality of teammate and human that he is. I think we’ve seen that in what has been a really promising path to recovery just knowing he’s committed to the work required and incredibly diligent.”
Breslow was just saying positive things about Fulmer.
Was this a recent signing? Don’t remember hearing about it so was not sure if he was someone we have had working his way back since last year.
Fulmer signed a 2 year minor league deal prior to the 2024 season:
mlbtraderumors.com/2024/02/red-sox-sign-michael-fu…
Thanks for clarifying, really misleading headline!
Yeah, the real quote is harmless and nothing worth getting worked up about. But MLBTR did pull the silliest individual notion and make it sound like it was a serious plan being presented so that’s on them. Kind of have to expect the wave of snarky comments that are going to come from that. In fact the notion of the post was probably intentional to drive engagement from that exact predictable reaction.
Correct and that wasn’t my point. Just saying Fulmer is a far cry from the premium arms the Sox have been connected to. He’s probably a far cry from even competing with Kutter, Bello and Giolito when it comes to the starting conversation.
Ummmm Fever Pitch Guy said this is an embarrassing move and the Red Sox are gonna lose 100 games because of Fulmer. This is all Chaim’s fault
Did he really? I have him muted. It would be too stupid to believe, but I’ve seen worse.
Medicare eligible? Check
Willing to sign for next to nothing? Check
2 kabillion % upside in a miracle? Check
Cheap is cheap.
Thanks for the laugh Red Sox
The – Par for the course.
Remember this is the same team that said at the trade deadline they were gonna “go all in” by acquiring starting pitcher help …. and then they proceeded to acquire Paxton when he was designated for assignment by the Dodgers, and pull Hill out of retirement.
It is so embarrassing being a Red Sox fan these days.
Red Sox are supposedly a “big market” club, but have been operating like the Pirates and Rockies.
What a terrible idea.
What a terrible idea to not read what Breslow actually said.
I’m not a Red Sox fan by any means but even I think this is cruel toward their own fanbase, to tie some of their hopes for the rotation to a guy who’s a reclamation arm coming off multiple years of injury and rehab and would just be lucky to pitch for them in relief on a semi regular schedule without going back on the IL- and they’re suggesting he’s a solution for their starting rotation!?
So cruel. I’ ve been in tears for hours now.
Man this article takes what bres said way out of context…read the actual quotes the writer here needs to do better this is nothing more than clickbait
I made a comment the other day on a different article on here with the same writer as the source saying that I think he tosses these things out there just to get the predicted freak out comments from the usual suspects. The entire tone of this piece seems to back that up.
Ken – These articles are meant to attract the usual front office suckups just to get their predicted “great move by the Sox” crap.
Pool – It’s not a deceptive article, it’s just very non-definitive with the words “may consider”.
My only problem with it is it’s old news, I brought it up days earlier.
The solution for what now? He is on a minor league deal and just went unclaimed in the rule 5 draft. Do you have something against minor league pitching depth?
The Red Sox need to FOCUS on signing or trading for a number 1 or 2 pitcher that was NOT injured in 2024!
I think they are trying to play next season on hard mode. They won’t let themselves take the easy way out and spend money on a good, proven top tier SP.
They were willing to pay seven hundred million dollars for soto but are unwilling to pay thirty-five million dollars for burns
alan – That offer to Soto was nothing but a charade, no different than their offer to Yamamoto.
That’s what the Red Sox do, get their fans all worked up with false hope like they also did when the media was calling them a favorite to land Ohtani.
So you think if we offer Burnes, he says yes?
He’ll be asking for more than $200M.
alan – If Burnes was Domican, I think the purse strings opening up would be more likely but I also agree with Fever Pitch Guy, I don’t believe big bucks will be spent anywhere so any other pitchers will be $20Million AAV or less.
Buehler comes to mind. He seems to fit the Breslow criteria.
Where is the money that was supposed to be committed to winning?
I feel like he would project more as a 6th starter for them. With injuries, it is always good to have more options than less.
Where’s your hankie to dry your tears?
His wife’s purse?
Fulmer is a good depth option for them as a rotation piece. If he can stretch out, limit hard contact, eat up some innings in the first half, and then transition to a bulk role/middle role in the second half – that is a huge win. The strategy should always be about finding value.
Yeah of course they realize that signing free agents cost money which is why they got Crochet and did not sign a pitcher John Henry thinks we are all stupid they have not change they used Soto to lie to us as he never had any intention on signing high end free agents
The Red Sox can’t seriously be considering this! It must be a joke or the writer misunderstood.
When is Theo going to take over again?
MLB – It’s different now with Theo. He’s an owner/investor, his priorities have changed. It’s all about the financials now, not the standings.
Actually, Breslow consults with Theo and Theo watches every pitch of every game.I
“Theo is obviously a great resource with respect to approaching a deadline, to the numerous considerations that need to be factored in here, to providing me insight sometimes in terms of day-to-day minutia and often just kind of big picture,” Breslow told NESN’s Tom Caron
nesn.com/2024/07/red-soxs-craig-breslow-explains-t…
Youd think they would save this one for a slow news day…of course fulmer could potentially start at some point in 2025 all teams need depth but nothing in what craig breslow has conveyed thus far initimates they are banking on fulmer as an integral rotation piece so think we can all save the jokes or anxiety the title leads to
Pool – Do I need to make a list of all the pitchers that were acquired in a similar manner, and ended up in games for the Red Sox.
This year it worked out with Criswell, but it sure as hell didn’t work out with Chase Anderson or Brad Keller or Bailey Horn or James Paxton or Yohan Ramirez or Trey Wingenter or Rich Hill or Naoyuki Uwasawa to name a few.
Every team churns through AAAA guys at the back of the bullpen. Stop acting like the Sox are the only team making minor league signings and low-level trades.
Wingenter, Horn, Ramirez, Hill, and Uwusawa pitched less than 30 combined innings for the team last year. Anderson and Keller both had a leverage index of less than .55 with Boston.
You’re freaking out about a guy who’s probably 9th or 10th on the SP depth chart right now, assuming they even keep him in that role. This isn’t supposed to be a needle-mover, it’s one where you say “ok” and move on.
Grow up.
Fletch – All these people saying the same as me, but of course as usual it’s only me you go after. Your obsession level with me is getting dangerously high.
You foolishly accused me of being wrong in the other thread. I quickly proved you were full of crap. And now you want a rematch? Hell no, that woukd be like Paul giving a rematch to Tyson. Go after someone else this time.
You were obviously wrong in the other article.
Richard Fitts. What a name
LA – Would be better if his last name was reversed.
The good cashier at the McDonald’s
Breslow has been given a budget that he has to abide by. Hence the commitment to fielding a club that fits the budget.. The Red Sox are not going to be big spenders. That’s the reality. Trading prospect capital to address their needs is the way that they can compete. They feigned being in on Soto, knowing they wouldn’t get him. The only significant signing has been for Chapman, and that being a one year contract. JH is not going to break the bank and add payroll as he has done in the past. Get used to it.
Bobby smac9 – I think you need to add the caveats to the budget regimen imposed on Breslow. If the player is Dominican, all bets are off. They offered $700 Million for Soto. That’s obscene with respect to the rules you have been pointing out.
So exceptions to the spending can be had if the background of the player fits the exception clause.
I don’t disagree that the Soto bid probably was fake in that they low balled on purpose but these same clowns paid Devers an obscene amount for his lack of skills. I think country loyalty is a driving force in the austerity program. Pick the right Dominican and boy that $20Million cap is going to fall. Pick a far more talented player, the cap won’t budge. I think that’s why we are still stuck with Cora despite his enormous number of mistakes that have cost them players and wins. He’s the right nationality and cheating isn’t an issue when you are the right nationality.
@sagacity… I’m of the opinion that they will rue the Devers contract sooner than later.
Bobby = Pujols and Miggy were good to 32 and 33. They are both far superior to Devers so his body will do him in by 32 if not sooner. That’s only $120Million wasted!! Mookie will be laughing as he completes his 12 year deal as an above league average player in year 12!!!
Bobby – I’ve got a great joke saved up for when the Rays rue not trading Shane McClanahan. LOL!!
While it may not be for $700 million, they did overpay for both Story and Yoshida. To my knowledge neither of them are Dominican. I am not giving up hope that they could still make another big move.
@Sagacity – Alex Cora is Puerto Rican and not from the Dominican if that is what you were referring to.
Boston is not done spending yet. While they may not outbid other clubs for Burnes (it’s not the AAV they are concerned with but the total # of guaranteed years it will require), I could see them spending $20M for a 1 year deal with Walker Buehler or another pitcher in his class. Heck, they might end up re-signing Pivetta. They are also going to have to spend for a RHH outfielder. I hope it’s Teoscar, but the Dodgers might end up retaining him which is what his preference is. I’ll be very surprised if they don’t spend to within $15M of the CBT, if not go over it a bit if they can sign the right players.
They also know that they have too many LHH’s and need to trade a couple away. The Red Sox are far from being done spending this offseason or reshaping their roster. Have a little faith, they’ve finally come to grips that they have to spend (money & prospects) in order to be competitive and they truly want to be competitive again given where they are in their “rebuild”. This is the right time to do so.
Dotty – I’ve already said the Sox will likely sign a C-level SP such as Buehler, Flaherty or Manaea.
But I don’t see them signing Santander, Teo or Bregman.
If they only sign a lower level pitcher I will be very disappointed. I think they need to do more to win back the fan base. Burnes is too expensive so I don’t see that happening. Castillo from the Mariners for Yoshida and a couple of prospects made so much sense, but I assume it would have happened by now. They need one of those free agent bats, so I will really lose faith in them taking contending seriously if they don’t sign one. They also need another major piece in the bullpen. They are continuing to say they are going all in, so I am not giving up hope.
Completely agree with you. I do think this will be the offseason that they step up and actually put together a team with the potential to contend. Still have plenty of time to make some big moves.
Sag – Cora is not Dominican, but overall you make some good points in that Cora (who is really running the show) does indeed have favorites.
Clickbait title. The author also neglected Priester on the depth chart, arguably ahead of Fitts.
tff – Fitts and Penrod are on the official depth chart, Priester is not.
mlb.com/redsox/roster/depth-chart
MLB.com doesn’t have any inside information and isn’t meaningfully more “official” than any other site.
Priester is on the depth chart for the rotation. Penrod is likely being looked at in relief. See how they get used in Spring Training?
tff – This is why I generally don’t like rankings, because they are totally subjective and are never unanimous.
I still think Priester is overrated right now by some here, but time will tell.
For all of you fans that thought yesterday’s John Means article was a good idea, we already have Fulmer, soooooooo
Also, Fulmer was available in the Rule 5, so 29 other teams GM’s think he probably can’t pitch
This is a rumors website. It is December 13th. So you people honestly believe that thinking about the possibility of adding a guy like Fullmer has anything whatsoever to do with landing another starter? You see the Mets and Dodgers and Yankees shelling out crazy money and you say not only “spend,” but “spend now, today, this minute!” Oh wait, they got a prospective ace and it’s a bad idea because they included two decent prospects. Perhaps you also think they should have sent more talent for one year of Kyle Tucker? It’s like this site exists to satisfy a unique chance thirst for expressing negativity about the team’s management (and yes—White Sox fans on mlbtr also felt fleeced yesterday. Sheesh!
Breslow get out of the dumpsters and spend some of that money you were going to spend on Soto or was that all bs like the fan base believes it was.
Nothing has changed in Boston except for the name on the door of the POBO, so sad
You’re not paying attention then if you believe that. Breslow may be limited financially and he may be butting heads with Kennedy, but he is at least identifying needs and trying to address them. Bloom just did whatever felt frugal or reactionary. None of his moves made much sense except the Vasquez trade.
Tang it – I think you think more highly than I do about Breslow. He’s just different than Bloom in that he’s a gambler who does win often and Bloom was a destroyer. It’s like arguing about whether Devers (Bloom equivalent) is better on defense than Mannny (Breslow equivalent). The right answer is they both sucked!!
Enough with the B.S**T Redsox Nation waited 6 years SPEND THE 100 Million on Quality SP and Closer Burns and Scott…enough being cheap AF it’s go time…so let’s F’n go!
The Redsox could consider me as a starter for them too. However, they won’t, and I don’t think they will consider Fulmer to become a starter either. Lots of options and the Sox need to get more aggressive!
The Red Sox seem committed to not spending money so to fix the problem areas they need to make trades which is not their strength.
Can they fix their defense? Sure it’s simple trade Devers for Arenado. It saves money and moves the defensive ranking up about 25 spots. The issue is Arenado isn’t Dominican. Not going to happen.
The Red Sox could get another SP2 or SP3 in Castillo by trading away their star left handed power bat that plays 1B who has controllable years. Castillo is a veteran that costs $21.6 Million for the next four seasons. This moves Devers to 1B which kills the defense yet again and creates a need for a new 3B. Bregman would be a great choice except he wants big money that exceeds the roughly $20Million dollar limit that seems to be imposed on Breslow except for Dominican players.
With $99Million under the CAP, an AAV limit of $20Million to maybe $25Million, and a need for a SP1, 3B and more bench strength in both hitting and pitching, what should Boston do?
You must ask the question: Do you want to keep saving money and being a .500 team or do you want to become competitive? Without the answer to that question, there is no way to understand what the direction of the organization is. Sure they say they are all in for competing for a division title but their actions don’t match their claim. You have to start with Devers moving to DH NOT 1B if you are serious about winning.
So for now, I will just watch and shake my head as the most obvious move can’t be executed because of ONE player holding the entire organization hostage. That’s why I vote to trade him for Arenado or do a one year pay down and move him and pay half his money left in a one time payment against the CAP in 2025 only. That clears the way to truly build a competitive team in 2026 rather than limping through 2026 peeling off even more farm talent to bring in cheap high risk players.
ONE GUY is keeping this team from being highly competitive and nobody has the nerve to move him to DH or completely humiliate him for being so selfish. It’s ridiculous. The world has changed so much. In the old days, his team mates especially the pitchers would have had a lot to say about him moving quickly to DH. He would have been tortured in the clubhouse for being selfish. Sometimes old school is the best way to win by managing the clubhouse for the sake of the team.
@Sagacity – Teams cannot do a one year pay down of a multi-year contract and apply 100% of it to a given year. If Raffy has 8 years left on his deal and the Red Sox agree to pay $150M of it up front to an acquiring team, that will count as $18.75 against their CBT for the next 8 years, regardless of when they pay out the money.
People really overblow Raffy’s defensive shortcomings. Sure, he’s prone to making some errors on easy plays from time to time, but his defense was much improved last season and I believe if he can keep his weight down, he can be a serviceable 3rd baseman for another 3-4 years. He’s not wining a gold glove there, but he can be league average if he really applies himself and stays in shape.
Dorothy = The one time payment against the CAP applies to the amount under the CAP the team is when the contract restructuring happens. In the case of Devers, Boston could reduce his AAV significantly. They can use the $99Million under the cap today to pay down the money owed Devers in his contract. His current owed amount would drop to an AAV of $20.6 Million if he received a one-time bonus in 2025 for $99M.
This would take the team up to the CAP BUT Devers becomes trade worthy if his AAV is $20.6Million. We already know at least $99Million of the contract will be wasted during the back half of the contract so why mortgage the future? Pay roughly 1/3 of it in 2025 and use it to reduce future costs and possibly get a better 3B for less money?
Devers new team would owe $20.6Million for 9 years and that AAV would be applied to their payroll and our payroll would take a one-time $99Million dollar hit in 2025 so they don’t have to conserve money over the life of his contract. The noose comes off the payroll’s neck with this move if Devers goes to DH and if he won’t then trading him is facilitated without taking another massive hit.
These are the types of financial solutions the LAD use.
As to your ridiculous comment about his defense being over blown, there is simply no evidence to support your claim.
His defense should be measured by errors but since score keepers are now given the freedom to fudge the numbers we have to go to Baseball Reference and count the misplays (balls hit to Devers that are playable but he doesn’t successfully make the play and doesn’t always get credited with an error). Unfortunately that used to be the definition of an error but since the percentage of misplays has been 3 to 5 times that for Devers in recent years I go to the baseball record book and log misplays not errors because they are far more accurate in defining the total impact of Devers bad play..
In 2022, Devers got credited with 14 errors and 52 total misplays. That means 38 unaccounted for pitches were put in play that came to Devers that were credited as singles despite him having a clean play on the ball.
Now tell me again about how he’s getting better? In 8 MLB seasons he’s NEVER achieved league average status and has been 25 points or more under league average on multiple occasions. Also, his defense was comparable in the minors and if you dig in the archives, he was just as bad at the Dominican Republic Baseball academy before he signed with Boston starting at age 14.
HE HAS NO HISTORY THAT SUGGESTS HE CAN FIELD AT A LEAGUE AVERAGE PACE!!! AND HE’S THE ACTIVE 3B WITH THE MOST ERRORS IN BASEBALL AFTER ONLY 8 SEASONS!!!
SO he’s NEVER been league average since he was 14. He has a body that will only deteriorate over the next several years as proven by two superior players to him that started at roughly the same age and ended their productive years at 32 and 33. – Miggy Cabrera and Albert Pujols.
Sorry Dorothy but you can’t be more wrong in what you are saying about Devers and Boston needs to take advantage of the huge amount of money above their payroll and below the CAP to reduce the damage Devers’ contract will do in future years. Mortgage this year to save the future rather than mortgaging the next decade.
Sag – The problem is Cora.
Targeting Devers instead of Cora is like targeting a soldier instead of the underboss. Cora is the one who insists on keeping Devers at third and not giving him a chance to play first base.
Fever Pitch Guy – Love the analogy and reference to soldiers and under boss!!
ONE small point. Devers does not have the skills to play 1B and his chances of injury go up exponentially when you combine a moving ball flying at him from across the infield and a runner approaching him along the baseline. Bad hands, bad feet, bad glove and lack of balance will contribute to a huge rise in injuries at 1B.
IT MUST DH!! The the well being of the pitching staff and his safety.
Sage- I think 90% of your posts make a lot of sense and are well thought out.
But, your obsession with moving Devers is getting worrisome. Devers did not cost them the seven games they missed the playoffs by. Not having enough SP, bullpen games in August and September, not having an everyday SS, as well as playing ELEVEN players at second base did.
So far they have addressed exactly 1/2 of one of those problems (as have acquired one of the two needed starters).
Devers will be everyday DH in ’26 or ’27, in the meantime his defense is not the difference between .500 and the playoffs.
Sad Sox 3 – You know I’m very meticulous when it comes to stats and I have wasted enormous hours of my time detailing the STINKATUDE of Devers at 3B. Baseball Reference is nice enough to record every play during the season so when I saw Devers had 14 errors in 2022 I went back through each game and counted the balls hit to him that did not get an out but he wasn’t given an error by a generous score keeper.
You won’t believe the results. FYI, these games are also on video so once you identify a “should have been an error” play you can accumulate them and then go watch the video to see if you believe it should have been an error to validate the data. When I finished I had 52 plays where Devers got hit the ball and didn’t make a play. 14 of the 52 counted as errors so the other 38 are simply summarized as balls miss played. With 14 errors in 393 chances his fielding percentage was .964 just 3 points below league average. If you add all 38 misplays to his numbers his new fielding percentage is .868!!!! Yowsa!!!
So lets just say half of them should have been errors so that is 19 plus 14 or 33 errors in 393 total chances. That’s a fielding percentage .916 which aligns with his numbers when he was young and score keepers just recorded errors without considering who he is.
Perspective – I am suggesting Arenado for Devers. During the timeframe Devers and Arenado have played in the league (2017 to 2024) the stats are:
Arenado – 3002 total chances with 75 errors for a fielding % of .975
Devers – 2534 total chances with 141 errors for a fielding % of .944
Devers had 66 more errors in nearly 500 less total chances. And that not counting misplays, just errors!!!
IMPACT OF DEVERS ERRORS:
1 – With every error there is a minimum of five more pitches for the pitchers.
2 – The stress level of the inning increases
3 – A percentage of the errors lead to an addition run or more
4 – Each misplay not counted as an error raises the pitchers ERA and WHIP
5 – A percentage of the mishaps lead to losses
6 – The increase in pitches leads to more innings pitched which can impact the next couple of games if the bullpen is already tapped out
7 – The clubhouse is impacted by excessive misplays whether expressed aloud or not
8 – It’s unknown how advancing the opponents line-up will impact later innings in the game. It may allow the top of the order to bat one additional time increasing the chances of a loss.
I just named 8 things and there are more. A single misplay seems like an insignificant to the naive baseball fan but it impacts the whole team in a negative way. 52 batters reaching first base when a good defender would have prevented almost all of the runners from reaching first base is very significant. 10 games maybe 20 games may be lost that wouldn’t have been lost if a good defensive 3B was playing.
You trivialize his ineptitude because you have played, managed, coached and follow the game for over 50 years. Errors change outcomes that why great defensive teams have a higher percentage chance of winning. Walks and errors are the two most key ways to give an advantage to your opponent.
Based on 141 errors that counted and another 141 that didn’t count but are in the books as a misplay, Devers has 282 opportunities to cost the team wins. NORMAL baseball people would never let ONE PLAYER be more important than the team. That’s not the case with Devers. He’s selfish, arrogant and untalented on defense and has been since he first came on the Red Sox radar at age 14. 14 years of bad defense is too much.
Sad Sox 3 – There are many reasons players lose games and managers lose games. My observation which is only an opinion because there is no direct causal relationship in many, many cases is that between Devers and Cora 1/4 of all losses are on one of them. Bad defense and bad in game decision making whether it’s the batting order, the in game pitching decisions or pinch hitting the wrong batters.
I’m sure that seems high to you but in 2018 I tracked it and I had Cora costing Boston 12 games in a 108 win season based on his bad choices impacting the outcome of the game. After people criticizing my total despite it being documented in detail, I gave up on tracking Cora’s mistakes. Now I just make a mental note when his decision impacts the score negatively. It happens far more frequently than you would expect. You should try it some time in 2025 to get a feel for just how many mistakes he makes in a game.
Just making Devers the DH would improve the D.
Bobby – If you do the numbers, depending on the year, the team will move from 28th or worse to top 10 or better. He makes 1/3 of the errors in many years and 1/4 of them overall. That’s inexcusable.
He only had 12 this year .960F% and most of them were in the shift situations where he was covering SS, he has improved like it or not and isn’t a gold glove but he makes some great plays as well over there. He’ll be a DH soon enough when Casas is hitting 40HRs and Grissom, Mayer, & Campbell fill out the infield after Story leaves or is traded.
baseballguru – He was below league average for the 8th consecutive year in the MLB and 8 seasons in the minors and frankly he sucked at the Dominican Republic Baseball Academy where he was when a scout for the Red Sox signed him.
There is not a shred of evidence that he’s improved. That’s just something you’ve put in your head without looking at the true facts. Some people would call that lying but I gave you the benefit of doubt and simply called it insufficient research.
Misplays are recorded in Baseball Reference. Misplays are balls hit to the player that he has a play on but doesn’t get the out yet doesn’t get an error. In 2022, Devers had 14 errors and 52 misplays.
His true fielding percentage would be closer to .900 which is similar to the dead ball era when fields sucked and the ball often took hits that made it not round!! Being close to 950 still sucks but most years now that he is famous he gets the benefit of the doubt (or the score keepers are making some side money) and balls hit on one hop that hit him in the feet don’t count as errors.
Quick check out Adley Rutschman’s opening day game where he went 5 for 5 and three balls were misplayed by Devers in 2023. How mad do you think the pitcher was that day because of the unearned runs that got converted to earned runs thanks to a generous score keeper?
He can’t be hitting DH soon enough. He’s overdue by 8 seasons because his defense was similar the whole time he was in the minors too and at the Dominican Republic Acadamy before he signed. This is not a new trend AND it’s never gotten better the score keeping simply changed. Thank goodness Baseball Reference maintains some level of integrity if the score keepers won’t.
The shift crap should be left off because I’m only going to embarrass you when you make stuff up.
Fulmer kinda seems redundant to the RHs already on the staff. He could be fine as a spot starter if someone has to skip their turn. Personally I don’t think has much tread left on the tires. But if he can throw strikes and go 4-5 innings once in a while, whatever. His salary is crumbs.
He should build himself up to just go 150% and be the 8th inning guy. Why doesn’t every team try to build a 7-8-9th system like the Nasty Boys and that trio the Royals had in 2015? Those dudes were lights out.
I heard Cora say that Devers will be back at 3B next season. What are the Red Sox thinking? I don’t think they can win with his defense there. He is really a DH. Even 1B would be rough for a guy that ole’s so many balls and has just about the worst range in baseball.
out – Stats such as UZR have Devers ranked higher in range than several guys such as Muncy, Burger, Riley, and Marte.
Vlad made the switch across the diamond, it’s certainly worth giving Devers a try at first base.
Please tell FPG that if he is going to answer me, un-mute me.
Devers is horrible.
UZR uses a zone rating that doesn’t take actual defense into account, just a players range. When there was extreme shifts it was even more inaccurate than it is now. It’s still a joke.
StatCast is trying as they put out FRV, but it is still too limited to be of much use. It is better than OAA that only mesure range.
Use the Fielding Bible stats. DRS.
Devers -24 DRS from 2022-2024 and you should always use 3 seasons when trying to look at defense. Only Alec Bohm has been worse.
fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?lg=all&qua…
Sort by DRS on Advanced tab.
When it comes to range, Devers is the worst among 3B.
fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?lg=all&qua…
Sort by OAA on advanced tab
Or go straight to StatCast tab and sort by range.
fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?lg=all&qua…
Out – You’re not muted. If you were, not only would I NOT be able to reply to your post …. I wouldn’t be able to even SEE your post.
I don’t do hit n runs, that’s for cowards.
I can’t respond to your posts.
Out – Must be a glitch because i can see and reply to yours, and I get the notifications.
How are you able to reply? Your replies appear right after my posts just like all replies from people do.
He will strike FEAR in every hitter. Potential CY Young piece.
Reading comprehension matters… Judging by the majority of comments, folks seem to be lacking said comprehension…
I would fire the idiot that suggested he should be a starter on the spot. GO GET A STARTER!! Quit f’ing around on the cheap
Sorry, don’t take this personally, but you guys from Boston are so gullible that you wouldn’t survive a week in NYC. Fulmer is not starting for us. I’d say it is 50/50 that he doesn’t even make the opening day roster.
NYC? They’re mired in a 15 year drought. Lol Their farm is 29th of 30, with aging players and albatross contracts, a frustrated fan base of overhyped aging contracts that continues to rub alcohol on open wounds expecting to be healed with a miracle. NY is F’d for the next decade until they rebuild their, throw money at it strategy and Zero depth. Boston’s done absolutely 100% the right thing rebuilding the farm and letting Mookie, Xander, and Sale go…they don’t fit the age of the rebuilt timeline to launch this next dynasty. Just like the last 2 decades, Boston will rule 2025-2035 if they finish the plan by getting Aces and Closers
I was talking about NYC in general, and the propensity of Boston fans to believe anything and everything they read.
Floating ideas like this really lends credence to the sense that they were caught flat footed by Freid’s contract, and the FA market overall, and are scrambling a bit to reorient. They wouldn’t be talking about this if they thought Burnes was making reasonable demands.
They landed Crochet. I’d like another SP, but there are a pretty fair amount of #2/3 types to go around.
bcjd – No different than prior offseasons, they simply fail at signing free agents.
I don’t fault Breslow, he’s a rookie learning on the job. The constant over the past 5 years has been Cora, Kennedy, Romero, O’Halloran, etc. They really need to blow up the front office and inject new blood in there.
what a joke the sox have become a laughing stock and of MLB.
Sounds like terrific plan ! What could go wrong ? Pencil em in as #3 starter. They’re really bottom feeding for inexpensive FAs. Then to brag on it. Tough being Bosox fan.
Are you really that naive to think he will be our #3 starter? Seriously? I hate to sound mean, but that’s an idiotic idea.
The – Our dignity?
The – When starting pitchers are pitching a perfect game, he likes to pull them after just 4 innings. LOL!!
The – That’s fair,
Michael is the one who had the early success with the Tigers.
The biggest troll –
If you like Cora do you also like anchovies on your pizza and liver? Because if you do, then I completely understand why things are so far off the norm. You do know he’s a huge cheater? RIght? And he did it twice? Only got caught once? You know that and still like him? Have you listened to him lie during his post game interviews? Are you good with him throwing his players under the bus when things aren’t going well? And you still like him…..hmmmmmm
Biggest Troll – You see good in him and I don’t. That’s why I pointed out a bunch of things he’s done really, really wrong. If you can admire anything about him it is your choice but I see not one redeeming factor related to the guy.
So, as long as I have reminded you that he’s the living devil of baseball, I’ve done my job. It is always your choice to like the despicable and I’m not telling you anything except the long list of indiscretions that is his life.
FYI… he did NOTHING for the team, the team did it. Just like in 2018. Without him they win more often.
We should have never hired him and destroyed Sale’s and Price’s careers, damaged the reputation of the franchise and cost the team so, so many games. Is it time for him to move on? Yes but it has been since the day he regretfully got named the manager without a lick of experience.
NO, NO, NO & NO…C’mon Redsox, You aren’t Tampa Bay or the A’s. You’re THE BOSTON FLIPPIN REDSOX. there’s plenty of quality arms still AVAILABLE …C.Burnes / W.Buehler / J.Flahertry / N.Pivetta / S.Manae / J.Verlander…and all it costs is $$$$$$$$, no prospects.
The last thing we need is to look to a Tommy John rehabbing 32 year old starter-then reliever-now starter again??? smh
Rant done.
Stupid rant. He won’t be in the rotation.
Interesting, he signs a minor league deal with the Pirates. But like everyone else, the RedSox are interested? Really?
I was just wondering about this guy. ( someone signed Carson)
Best of.luck, Mr
Fulmer.
If you’re trying to piss off a fan base that’s waited 6 long years to rebuild their (yes it belongs to Redsox Nation as without us you don’t exist) organization with this F’n BS it’s working! With 100 million to spend before major CBT penalties you go get Chrochet and want to stay cheap? Stay trading our studs that are left or studs in MLB already? SPEND THAT MONEY! Scott, Burns GET THE MESSAGE FROM REDSOX NATION ENOUGH IS ENOGH! SPEND THE MONEY ON ACES AND CLOSERS THATS THE MESSAGE SPELLED OUT FOR YOU! NO aging outfielders, no aging Infielders, let our boys fill those spots (Anthony, Campbell, Mayer, Bleis etc) SPEND THE MONEY JOHN!
They will not make investments at the major league level. That has been the plan for the last five years, and will continue. Trading prospect stock to stock the big league roster is what will happen.
Noooooooo
The writer was searching for something novel to write about.
He essentially came up with…If Fulmer pitches lights out in ST. RS MIGHT consider him for a SP role.
He’s a worthy longshot dumpster dive for peanuts. Nothing more.
There shouldn’t be a comma before “too.”