Mike Stone/AP
Detroit Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer was named AL Rookie of the Year on Monday after going 11-7 and posting a 3.06 ERA, 1.119 WHIP, and nearly eight strikeouts per-nine innings.
However, Fulmer isn’t going to bask in the glory of the award for too long — he has work to do.
According to Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press, that work doesn’t just include strengthening his skills on the mound, but also returning to his job as a plumber in the offseason.
Fulmer took up plumbing in 2015 when he began helping a good friend’s uncle at his plumbing business Cyrus Wright Plumbing in Yukon, Oklahoma. When Larry Wright, Fulmer’s boss, called Fulmer for help on a job, Fulmer accepted. He’s continued the work since, telling Fenech, “I’m still doing it, so it’s fun.”
According to Fenech, Fulmer helps with some of the more physical work, like digging deep ditches and working jackhammers. Wright said it took Fulmer a little while to learn the tools and terminology, but has others learned the ins and outs of the job quickly.
Fulmer, whose rookie contract paid him $507,000 in 2016, says the physical work helps him prepare for offseason workouts.
“It’s a different kind of workout. Digging out of 6-foot ditches all the time and shoveling quite a bit. So, it’s a different type of workout, and it helps before I start working out in the off-season.”
Although Wright pays Fulmer for his help, he believes Fulmer works because it’s in his nature. “It does surprise me, because I think it’s just the kind of guy he is as far as being humble, because he doesn’t make near as much money working for me than what he does pitching. So, I think it just kind of keeps him grounded.”
With the way his MLB career has begun, Fulmer doesn’t need to continue plumbing in the offseason, but from the sounds of it, he doesn’t plan to stop.
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