ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Chicago Cubs selected the contract of right-hander Michael Fulmer from Triple-A Iowa and optioned right-hander Nate Pearson to Iowa on Monday ahead of a four-game series against the Cardinals.
Fulmer, 32, returns to the Cubs after going 3-5 with two saves and a 4.42 ERA in 58 appearances for Chicago in 2023.
Fulmer missed the 2024 season after undergoing UCL revision surgery on his right elbow on Oct. 18, 2023.
Fulmer, who was the 2016 AL Rookie of the Year with Detroit, had Tommy John surgery on March 27, 2019, and returned to the major leagues on July 27, 2020, just after the start of the pandemic-shortened season.
“It took me a few months to get stuff and velo back,” Fulmer said about his first Tommy John surgery. “Once I got all the game reps I needed, my stuff came back. So, I think we’re getting on that timeline now where I’m feeling good, body’s feeling great, no complaints, stuff’s starting to come back a little bit and I’m really just excited.”
Fulmer signed a minor league deal with Boston on Feb. 2, 2024, but did not play for the rest of the season. He allowed three runs on four hits in his lone appearance with Boston in April at Tampa Bay before the Red Sox designated him for assignment four days later.
Fulmer inked a minor league contract with the Cubs on April 22 and went 1-0 with a 2.96 ERA in 24 1/3 innings over 15 games with Iowa.
“You know he’s went through a lot, you know he’s sticking with it,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “It’s a sign of what you’re made of, I think. It really is. I know moments like getting back to the big leagues are important, and they validate a lot of the hard work and a lot of the rehabs and a lot of the things like that. You’re happy for guys like Michael who get a shot again.”
Pearson was recalled from Iowa on Saturday, and allowed five runs on five hits and two walks in two innings on Sunday versus Seattle.
Chicago (46-31) entered play Monday with a 3 1/2 game lead over Milwaukee and a 4 1/2 game lead over St. Louis in the NL Central Division.
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FILE - Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya, left, congratulates relief pitcher Michael Fulmer, after Fulmer struck out Colorado Rockies' Brenton Doyle to end the ninth inning of a baseball game, Sept. 11, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski), File
FILE - Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Nate Pearson throws to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fifth inning of an MLB Tokyo Series baseball game in Tokyo, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Men who were part of the group of Venezuelan migrants that the United States government transferred earlier this year to a prison in El Salvador demanded justice on Friday, days after a federal judge in Washington ruled that the Trump administration must give them legal due process.
The men told reporters in Venezuela’s capital that they hope legal organizations can push their claims in court. Their press conference was organized by Venezuela’s government, which had previously said it had retained legal services for the immigrants.
On Monday, a federal judge ordered the U.S. government to give legal due process to the 252 Venezuelan men, either by providing court hearings or returning them to the U.S. The ruling opens a path for the men to challenge the Trump administration’s allegation that they are members of the Tren de Aragua gang and subject to removal under an 18th century wartime law.
The men have repeatedly said they were physically and psychologically tortured while at the notorious Salvadoran prison.
“Today, we are here to demand justice before the world for the human rights violations committed against each of us, and to ask for help from international organizations to assist us in our defense so that our human rights are respected and not violated again,” Andry Blanco told reporters in Caracas, where roughly two dozen of the migrants gathered Friday.
Some of the men shared the daily struggles they now face — including fear of leaving their home or encountering law enforcement — as a consequence of what they said were brutal abuses while in prison. The men did not specify what justice should look like in their case, but not all are interested in returning to the U.S.
“I don’t trust them,” Nolberto Aguilar said of the U.S. government.
The men were flown to El Salvador in March. They were sent to their home country in July as part of a prisoner swap between the Trump administration and the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Camilla Fabri, Venezuelan vice minister of foreign affairs for international communications, said Maduro's government is working with a bar association in the U.S. and “all human rights organizations to prepare a major lawsuit against Trump and the United States government, so that they truly acknowledge all the crimes they have committed against” the men.
Tito Martinez, a Venezuelan migrant sent by the U.S. to El Salvador and later deported to Venezuela, walks with his family after reading a statement at a government building in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Dec. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Arturo Suarez, a Venezuelan migrant sent by the U.S. to El Salvador and later deported to Venezuela, walks with his family after reading a statement at a government building in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Dec. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
