With the 44th overall pick in the draft, which the Mets received for losing Pedro Feliciano as a free agent to the Yankees, the Mets selected 6-foot-2 right-hander Michael Fulmer from Deer Creek High School in Edmund, Okla. Fulmer, 18, has committed to the University of Arkansas.
Scouting director Chad MacDonald said: “Big, physical right-hander. If you like 92 to 97 mph with plus sink and a plus breaking ball you’re going to like this guy. … There were three really good high school pitchers from Oklahoma, and they’re all in the same conversation for me.”
Said Paul DePodesta: "The first word out of one of our scout's mouth was, ‘This guy doesn’t like hitters.’ I think he had me sold right then that this guy pitches aggressively. ... We wanted to take a bat up top if we could get one we thought had a chance to get an impact, because we were hopeful there was a potential impact arm for us at 44. The guy we had circled the whole time was Michael Fulmer. And we were thrilled when he was actually there."
Here's Keith Law's write-up:
Fulmer's a late riser in this draft, a beneficiary of all the national scouts who've headed into Oklahoma this year to see Dylan Bundy and Archie Bradley and have stuck around for a day or two to make the trip worthwhile. Fulmer has one of the best breaking balls in the draft to go with a 91-94 mph fastball. The curveball runs from 76 into the low 80s and has tight rotation with a sharp downward break. There's clear effort in his delivery, as he gets his front leg down early but doesn't get his weight on it and generates arm speed from his upper half. However, the present fastball and breaking ball are both above-average and he could probably move through the lower levels of a system fairly quickly.