At Missouri, he pitched for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks of the Cape Cod Baseball League in the summers of 2013 and 2014.

He spent the 2016 season with the Hickory Crawdads of the Class A South Atlantic League, going 4–5 with a 4.88 ERA in 101 innings.

He opened the 2017 season with the Down East Wood Ducks of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League, going 2–1 with a 5.79 ERA in 18.2 innings.

Fairbanks suffered a second torn UCL and underwent Tommy John surgery a second time during the 2017 season.

[12] He made his major league debut on June 9, recording three strikeouts over two scoreless innings of relief.

[18] In Game 7 of the Championship Series against the Houston Astros, Fairbanks recorded a four-out save as the Rays won the American League pennant.

[19] On July 7, 2021, Fairbanks combined with Collin McHugh, Josh Fleming, Diego Castillo, and Matt Wisler to no–hit the Cleveland Indians.

On March 30, 2022, it was announced that Fairbanks would miss three months of action after suffering a 50% tear of his lat muscle.