{"id":555291,"date":"2026-02-05T01:55:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T01:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/555291\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T01:55:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T01:55:13","slug":"giants-sign-former-american-league-rookie-of-the-year-pitcher-in-nri-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/555291\/","title":{"rendered":"Giants Sign Former American League Rookie of the Year Pitcher in NRI Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Michael-Fulmer-inside-2.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"Michael Fulmer\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Pitcher Michael Fulmer missed all of the 2024 season after Tommy John surgery. <\/p>\n<p>The <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"San Francisco Giants\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/san-francisco-giants\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"160264\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">San Francisco Giants<\/a>, like the other 29 <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/\" title=\"MLB\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"160270\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MLB<\/a> teams, are gearing towards putting together a roster before spring training gets underway later this month. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/sfgiants\/status\/2019110568058318906?s=61\" rel=\"nofollow\">San Fran\u2019s X account announc<\/a>ed on Wednesday all of the players that will be reporting to spring camp with the organization via a non-roster invite, and former Detroit Tigers starter Michael Fulmer was among the pitchers group.<\/p>\n<p>Fulmer, who is now 33, would likely start the year in the minors, but he will be given a chance with the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/san-francisco-giants\/\" title=\"Giants\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"160271\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Giants<\/a>\u2018 spring training team to pitch again and see if he can compete at the level he once could. He pitched in just 5.2 innings at the MLB level in 2025 and did not pitch at all in 2024. Injuries have really hindered what started as a very promising career for Fulmer.<\/p>\n<p>More MLB on Heavy: <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/los-angeles-dodgers\/dodgers-shohei-ohtani-sends-clear-message-about-team-spending-amid-backlash\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dodgers\u2019 Shohei Ohtani Sends Clear Message About Team Spending Amid Backlash<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Giants Give Michael Fulmer Another Chance<\/p>\n<p>It ends up being the Giants who give Michael Fulmer another chance. He\u2019s had to miss two full seasons on separate occasions due to Tommy John Surgery, and then a revision surgery on the same elbow has put a big wrench in his career.<\/p>\n<p>However, he is a former AL Rookie of the Year winner with the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"Detroit Tigers\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/detroit-tigers\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"160265\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Detroit Tigers<\/a> back in 2018, and then he followed that strong campaign with an All-Star appearance in \u201919. In 159 innings as a rookie, Fulmer posted a 3.06 ERA with 132 strikeouts. He then made 25 starts in his second season in MLB, and boasted a 3.83 ERA in 164.2 innings.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5338193\" class=\"size-inline wp-image-5338193\" data-lazy-load=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770256513_62_Michael-Fulmer-inside-2.jpg\" alt=\"Michael Fulmer\" width=\"782\" height=\"440\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5338193\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">GettyPitcher Michael Fulmer missed all of the 2024 season after Tommy John surgery.<\/p>\n<p>After that first elbow surgery, his career transitioned from being a starter to being used in a prominent bullpen role. In 2021, Fulmer had somewhat of a resurgence year by recording an ERA of 2.97 in 69.2 innings as a reliever.<\/p>\n<p>Teams that have since taken a chance on Michael Fulmer include the Chicago Cubs (twice), <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/minnesota-twins\/\" title=\"Minnesota Twins\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"160268\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Minnesota Twins<\/a>, and <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"Boston Red Sox\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/boston-red-sox\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"160263\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Boston Red Sox<\/a>. The Giants mark Fulmer\u2019s fifth MLB organization.<\/p>\n<p>More MLB on Heavy: <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/atlanta-braves\/braves-athletics-trade-idea-lands-45-million-starter-in-atlanta-grant-holmes\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Braves-Athletics Trade Idea Lands $45 Million Starter in Atlanta for Grant Holmes<\/a><\/p>\n<p>San Francisco Giants Enter Spring Training with Big Free Agency Aspirations<\/p>\n<p>Spring training is just a couple of weeks away, and the Giants remain firmly in the sweepstakes for some of the biggest free agent starters on the market, like <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/mlb\/player\/framber-valdez\/\" title=\"Framber Valdez\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"160269\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Framber Valdez<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It feels like Framber Valdez\u2019s free agency is starting to gain some traction, but the Giants are one of about four MLB teams thought to have a real chance at landing the two-time All-Star southpaw.<\/p>\n<p>If the Giants do land an arm like Valdez, that makes things that much tougher for a player like Michael Fulmer, who is fighting for a roster spot.<\/p>\n<p>Fulmer is likely to start the year in the minors, but with the length of a MLB season being so long, Fulmer could play his way into a few starts somewhere down the road, if all goes well in the minors.<\/p>\n<p>More MLB on Heavy: <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/new-york-yankees\/yankees-claim-rockies-outfielder-yanquiel-fernandez-off-waivers-dfa-dom-hamel\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Yankees Claim Former <\/a><a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"Rockies\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/colorado-rockies\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"160266\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rockies<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/new-york-yankees\/yankees-claim-rockies-outfielder-yanquiel-fernandez-off-waivers-dfa-dom-hamel\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Outfielder Off Waivers, DFA Dom Hamel<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on SF Giants\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Pitcher Michael Fulmer missed all of the 2024 season after Tommy John surgery. The San Francisco Giants,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2408],"tags":[5,162,4,378,66,4343,4340,4344,4341,4342],"class_list":{"0":"post-555291","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-giants","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-giants","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-san-francisco","12":"tag-san-francisco-giants","13":"tag-sanfrancisco","14":"tag-sanfranciscogiants","15":"tag-sf","16":"tag-sf-giants","17":"tag-sfgiants"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116015538734213889","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}