The Detroit Tigers got right-hander Michael Fulmer from the Mets in the Yoenis Cespedes trade last summer. That was a great return for a two-month rental of a player the Tigers weren't likely to re-sign anyway. Fulmer was a breakout prospect for the Mets last year after missing chunks of 2013 and 2014 due to various injuries, and on Sunday, he was even better than advertised in an intrasquad game on one of Joker Marchant's back fields. The Tigers have to be giddy about what they have in him.

Fulmer, the Tigers' best prospect coming into the season, showed 92-95 mph and mixed in four- and two-seamers across roughly six innings of work. (Minor league spring training games are somewhat nebulous things, with innings lasting anywhere from one to five outs.) It was Fulmer's slider that truly stood out. A curveball guy in high school, Fulmer switched to a slider last year before the trade, and his pitch is disgustingly good: 86-89 with very tight, hard tilt that seems to happen at the last possible second. He was working on his changeup; he threw some that were above-average to barely plus with good downward fading action and others that stayed up a little and got too much plate. At 85-87, his changeup needs that action to be effective because that's not a huge separation from the curveball.