Pittsburgh Pirates: Four Prospects to Target for José Quintana

Miami Marlins – LHP Dax Fulton

Now I know what you’re thinking. The Marlins? Are they going to be buyers? Although they are 11 games out of their division, they are only three games out of a Wild Card spot. The Marlins have gotten great pitching out of Sandy Alcantara and Pablo Lopez this year, but Trevor Rogers fell into a sophomore slump, and Elieser Hernandez flat-out stunk until he was demoted. Jesus Luzardo has been solid when he has been healthy (which hasn’t been much). Only Alcantara and Lopez have carried their pitching staff.

In the event the Marlins look into Quintana, the Pittsburgh Pirates should see how available lefty Dax Fulton is. Fulton’s surface numbers aren’t too pretty. He has a 5.16 ERA and 1.46 WHIP, but there’s a lot more that goes into those numbers. Fulton has a remarkable 31% strikeout rate and 7.4% walk rate. His K:BB ratio sits at 4.2. He’s also only allowed three home runs in 61 innings of work.

On top of that, he has a ground ball rate above 50% and line-drive rate below 20%. So, where did all the runs come from? Fulton has a .405 batting average on balls in play, the highest mark among all minor leaguers with 50 or more innings of work under their belts.

Standing at a tall 6’7″, 225 pounds, Fulton is a lefty with three above-average pitches. This includes a low-to-mid-90s fastball, a plus-plus curveball, and a great changeup. He has plus command to boot. Fulton is only 20 years old but earning himself a call to Double-A. He has a 3.07 FIP and 2.98 xFIP, which shows that his ERA is not all his doing.