Pirates Reportedly Sign Former First-Round Pick To Minor League Deal — and more

The Pittsburgh Pirates are giving a former top prospect yet another opportunity to make their big league roster.

Pittsburgh signed Carson Fulmer to a minor league deal, per Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Pirates invited the pitcher to spring training, and he already has a locker in their LECOM Park clubhouse.

Alex Stumpf noted that this will mark Fulmer’s fourth separate stint with the Pirates organization. However, he has yet to appear in an MLB game for them.

Fulmer began his professional career with considerable buzz when the Chicago White Sox made him the No. 8 pick of the 2015 draft. The right-hander never found his footing, posting a 6.56 ERA in 44 games scattered over four seasons in Chicago.

Fulmer has since pitched for four different MLB clubs, spending the last three years with the Los Angeles Angels. He’s yet to harness the strike zone, issuing 137 walks and hitting 23 batters over 256 2/3 career innings.

The Pirates claimed Fulmer off waivers twice in 2020, but he only worked 10 1/3 innings for the Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers during the pandemic-shortened season. Pittsburgh signed the former Vanderbilt standout after the 2024 season and released him last June after Fulmer registered a 4.64 ERA at Triple-A Indianapolis.

Fulmer finished the year with a 5.83 ERA for the Angels, so the 32-year-old would likely need an extremely impressive spring to make Pittsburgh’s Opening Day roster.

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The post Pirates Reportedly Sign Former First-Round Pick To Minor League Deal appeared first on SportsNet Pittsburgh.

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The Huskies entered a highly anticipated matchup at Villanova and left with a resounding victory.

Some thoughts after the win.

Bench Mob

After the St. Johns game, I pointed out the one thing missing from the bench — which had been playing pretty well up until then — a scoring punch.

Turns out, it could have been much worse. The no-shows from the second unit in the subsequent games, culminating in the Creighton catastrophe, put the spotlight on them even more. On Saturday, with Silas Demary Jr battling the turnovers, Alex Karaban somewhat limited physically, and the Huskies desperate for anyone to slow down Tyler Perkins, the bench beacons were once more lit.

And this time, they answered. Jayden Ross led the team with a plus/minus of 16, clamping Perkins and ramping up the energy. He’s not a perfect player on offense, but he gives you that Andre Jackson athleticism this team needs.

Jaylin Stewart, unfairly online lately, found himself once more around the ball often, making the right play but this time also knocking down his two threes, the first a back breaker after Nova had hit a three to cut it to eight.

Reibe continued to show feathery soft touch around the rim and set crunching screens. Malachi Smith perfectly toed the line between chaos and control, putting pressure on the rim and not turning the ball over.

More important than the 22 bench points was the 58 minutes played between those four. The Huskies wore down against St. Johns because Dan Hurley didn’t trust sprinkling in his second unit, and no starting unit can handle the Red Storm pressure for 35 plus minutes.

If the bench can give even half of that type of production, the starters may be able to close the game on Wednesday.

Shot Selection

Braylon Mullins and Solo Ball didn’t scorch the nets like they have done at times this year, but their efficiency was promising. It’s only the fourth time in 2026 that Ball shot 50% from the field, and Mullins’ most efficient outing since Jan. 7.

Sometimes, when UConn’s movement is bogged down, Ball and Mullins need to have the greenest of green lights, the road win against Butler comes to mind. But given their reputation, the attention they command from defenses selling out to take away the three leaves driving lanes wide open. 

A lot of times, the shot selection are ‘no no no yes’ moments. Live by the three, die by the three. Some teams in college without the athleticism and size of UConn are forced to do that, and it’s obviously a huge part of the game right now. But UConn is way too well-rounded of a team to settle for jacking up threes at an inefficient clip.

It’s also one of the reasons why their defense had regressed lately. The jacked-up threes that don’t go in often put teams out in transition, and for a team that has a better set defense than transition defense, its unneeded pressure on UConn’s weaker individual defenders. 

In the last three games, UConn had shot more than 30 threes. They average 23.5 per game. The 19 treys launched against Villanova were much more palatable. 

The Huskies are in the advantageous position that their reputation for launching precedes sometimes works, so teams will still sell out like crazy to take away the three. If the staff can coach up the team to attack with the aggressiveness they showed against Villanova on Wednesday, then the rest of UConn’s champagne problems go away. 

Need Reed

Aman: It’s time for Tarris Reed Jr. to find the Bear within on a full-time basis. His career, his college legacy, and professional prospects all depend on it. UConn can survive foul trouble, thanks to Eric Reibe, but they can’t survive when Tarris is turning it over, being lackadaisical defensively, and losing on the glass. He’s had too many games with very light rebounding where he looks lost at times, despite his many stretches of excellent, almost dominant play. Particularly against teams that have some heft in the post, like St. John’s, the Huskies can’t afford to have a non-factor from their starting center.

Playoff Mode

Aman: Post-game, Hurley said they are basically thinking “win and go home” on the three-game stretch that started with this one, then St. John’s in Hartford on Wednesday, and Senior Day vs. Seton Hall on Saturday at Gampel. There’s one more regular-season game against Marquette before the Big East Tournament, where the Huskies are likely to land either the top seed or a two-seed now that they’ve got two-and-a-half games on third-place Villanova.

The upcoming matchup with St. John’s will all but confirm the conference regular-season champion. UConn is a half-game back of the Johnnies and lost the head-to-head matchup in NYC earlier this month. If they lose to Rick Pitino’s squad again, on Wednesday at home, that will mostly seal the deal.

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