Richard Aaron Fultz (born September 4, 1973), is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

relief pitcher, who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB), in all or parts of seven seasons, for five big league teams. He also spent the season with the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions, of the

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

(CPBL). Fultz is currently the pitching coach for the Minor League Baseball (MiLB) Clearwater Threshers, in the Phillies organization.

Professional baseball

Playing career

Fultz was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. Drafted by the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

in the 6th round of the 1992 Major League Baseball Draft, he spent the first three seasons of his Major League career with them (–), compiling a 10-5 record in 167 games played (181.2 innings pitched). He struck out Mike Redmond swinging for his first major league strikeout. From there, he began his career as a journeyman pitcher, trying to find his niche out of someone's bullpen. For the Texas Rangers (), he had little success, with only a 1-3 record and an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

just above 5.00. His next stop was the Minnesota Twins, for whom he had a .500 record (3-3), but an ERA still above 5.00. In the season, he settled into his role as the left-handed specialist in the bullpen of the Philadelphia Phillies and promptly proceeded to toss career numbers, posting a 4-0 record and an ERA of 2.24. Fultz was then re-signed by Philadelphia to a one-year contract for the season. Fultz was signed by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

to a one-year contract before the season. The contract also included a club option for . Fultz worked as a left-handed specialist in 2007, appearing in 49 games and going 4-3 with a 2.92 ERA. Before the 2008 season, Fultz's club option was picked up by the Indians. Yet on March 24, 2008, it was announced that Fultz would not be making the team after a poor spring. He put up an 11.88 ERA in seven games and gave 14 runs on 16 hits in 8 innings. The following day, Fultz was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...

and was released on March 28. On March 29, 2008, Fultz signed a minor league contract with the Detroit Tigers, but asked to be released by the team less than 3 weeks after signing the contract because he wasn't called up to the team. On May 6, 2008, Fultz signed a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies but was released in June. He subsequently signed with the

Somerset Patriots The Somerset Patriots are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey, that is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They compete in the Eastern League, known as the Double-A Northeast in 2021, and w ...

of the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Atlantic League. On July 20, Fultz made a start for the Patriots against the

Bridgeport Bluefish The Bridgeport Bluefish were an American minor league baseball team based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The team was a member of the Liberty Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which was not affiliated with Major League Baseba ...

and allowed 5 runs in the 1st inning. He settled down in the following innings allowing just 1 run in the 4th but was saddled with the loss. On September 9, 2008, Fultz's contract was purchased by Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

CPBL The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 2 ...

. On December 21, 2008, the Cincinnati Reds signed Fultz to a minor league contract. Aaron was then released from said contract on March 23, 2009.

Coaching career

Fultz is currently the pitching coach for the

Reading Fightin Phils The Reading Fightin Phils (also called the Reading Fightins) are a Minor League Baseball team based in Reading, Pennsylvania, playing in the Northeast Division of the Eastern League. The team plays their home games at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Re ...

, the Philadelphia Phillies Double-A affiliate in the Eastern League.

Newark Bears

On May 21, 2009 Fultz Signed With The

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American minor league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball. T ...

of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He retired from professional baseball on June 6, 2009.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fultz, Aaron 1973 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Sportspeople from Memphis, Tennessee Baseball coaches from Tennessee Baseball players from Memphis, Tennessee Major League Baseball pitchers San Francisco Giants players Texas Rangers players Minnesota Twins players Philadelphia Phillies players Cleveland Indians players Arizona League Giants players Fort Wayne Wizards players San Jose Giants players Shreveport Captains players Fresno Grizzlies players Frisco RoughRiders players Oklahoma RedHawks players Rochester Red Wings players Newark Bears players Akron Aeros players Tulsa Drillers players Toledo Mud Hens players Águilas Cibaeñas players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Somerset Patriots players Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions players Minor league baseball coaches