Hultzen is the best pitcher in the history of the Virginia Cavaliers and was drafted second overall in the 2011 draft in what will go down as the deepest draft in history as far as collegiate pitching goes. His first taste of professional baseball came in the form of six starts in the Arizona Fall League. He gave up three runs in around 20 innings, striking out nearly a guy an inning and walking five. The small sample really tells us nothing new and hardly confirms anything we already supposed.
Regardless, Hultzen should break camp with the Mariners out of Spring Training, and we see no reason to expect him not to succeed immediately. His 6-foot-3 frame is athletic, and his mechanics are repeatable, although not textbook. He is a bit of an across-the-body thrower with some wrap in the back, but there is nothing in his delivery that screams injury to us. He has a fastball that can reach 97 mph as well as an above-average to plus changeup with good fade and excellent command.
His breaking pitch improved greatly in the last season and, while it was not nearly as sharp during the NCAA season, looked like a solid average pitch in the AFL. His command with all three is above-average, and in a yard like Safeco, Hultzen should make several All-Star teams and have a very solid and lengthy career.
Last night’s episode of The Baseball Show was only supposed to last an hour, but ultimately reached the hour and a half mark, which only means good things. Clint, MJ, and I touched on several different topics including the Hall of Fame, the Reds’ recent acquisitions, Howie Kendrick‘s extension, and our favorite bizarre MLB injuries. Last night also marked the debut of “Ask MJ,” a new series where Clint and I ask MJ whatever we want. Somehow he survived and actually came up with surprising answers, which can be found below.
Hall of Fame Voting
– Barry Larkin is the lone Hall of Fame inductee from the Class of 2012. Would we all have voted for him? Yes. As a Reds fan, Clint is especially pumped, and we’re pumped for him.
– Larkin isn’t the only player we would have voted for…so who else? We’re not quite sold on Jack Morris, but how about Jeff Bagwell? Absolutely. Tim Raines? Absolutely. Edgar Martinez? Hopefully. Perhaps Frank Thomas‘ imminent induction will open the door.
– As we look ahead to the Class of 2013, we speculate about which players will make the cut? Our early unanimous votes go to Mike Piazza, Craig Biggio, and Curt Schilling.
– A great deal for both teams as they lock up Kendrick for his prime years. We all consider him to be about the seventh or eighth best second baseman in baseball.
MLB Injuries
– This past week Dustin Penner of the L.A. Kings injured his back eating pancakes…seriously. Don’t worry, despite the injury he still finished the meal.
– So naturally we discuss our favorite freak baseball injuries: Clint: Joel Zumaya injuring his elbow playing Guitar Hero; MJ: Clint Barmes falling down a flight of stairs while carrying a slab of deer meat; Mike (three-way tie): Smoltz ironing his shirt while wearing it, Kevin Mitchell microwaving a donut/cupcake that caused the microwave to explode, and Jeff Baker burning his ass while trying to light fights on fire with the Cubs pitchers.
Ask MJ:
Clint’s questions:
– Jerry Dipoto: Over or under career fWAR of 5? – MJ answered under, and was wrong. Dipoto finished his career with a 6.6 fWAR.
– Worst pick up line ever used on a woman: Told strippers he’s a baseball writer; told women he could get them on a lingerie football team when they were actually having open tryouts; he’s a race car driver.
– In a four-year keeper league, would you rather have Justin Upton or Matt Kemp? – Kemp
– You have to go the next year of your life without either looking at Fangraphs (or any Saber-related site) or drinking booze. Which one would you choose: No booze…it’s hard to be a blogger without using stats.
Mike’s questions:
Who will have more wins in 2012: Reds or White Sox? – Reds
Name the three core ingredients in a Denver omelette: Green peppers, ham, and onions. Wow, he actually got it right, although his “I’m not even near a computer” claim remains suspect.
Rapid Fire Round – Pick one:
Chuck or Steve Finley: Steve
Freddy or Jason: Jason
Braun or Kemp: Kemp
Todd Hundley or nobody: Nobody Shane Victorino or Benny Agbayani: Victorino Todd Walker or Neil Walker: Neil Walker
Nomo or Dice-K: Nomo
Bonds or Aaron: Bonds
Goldstein or Neyer: Goldstein
Trout or Harper: Mike Trout
Paul Assenmacher or Terry Mulholland: Mulholland Vernon Wells or a pile of rocks: After clarifying that I’m not referring to the rocks beyond the left-centerfield wall…rocks, hands down.
Whiskey or Rum: Rum
Which Hostess product will you be sad to see go? Snowball (Editor’s note: Gross)
Have you ever considered entering the medical field? Somewhat. I am actually a certified medical coder.
If you had the to domesticate one wild animal, what would it be? Probably a hawk or falcon to my bidding.
How many dugout/clubhouse brawls will the Marlins have in 2012? It will be a season-long brawl. Gatorade should remove all dispensers from their dugout.
The Pirates insist on babying Taillon, who some thought actually was the top player available in the 2010 draft even ahead of Bryce Harper. Regardless of who was better, what is certain is that Taillon was the best pitching prospect in his class, so some restraint is probably highly prudent and highly warranted.
His fastball and breaking ball are both at least 60-grades every night and can reach 70s. His breaking ball is arguably the best pitch from any of the last five drafts, and his fastball can reach the upper-90s with good plane and arm-side activity. His command can stand to improve, but it already has substantially since he signed.
Even though he never made it past the fifth inning of any start, he still was able to post a sub-4.00 ERA with 97 strikeouts and 22 walks in 92.0 innings. Look for that count to jump up to the 125 IP area in 2012 and for Taillon to dominate Double-A hitters like he did Sally League hitters. Taillon is so advanced in terms of stuff that he should never be challenged while in the Minors by anyone or anything except his own standards and the standards of his organization, which is quickly on the rise.
As an 18-year-old in the Sally League, Profar very nearly slashed .290/.390/.500 as an elite fielding shortstop, earning him the SAL MVP. Holy shit. He’s really, really good and has so much more to gain before he actually arrives in Arlington. An aggressive international scouting department was able to sign Profar out of Curacao while he was a 16-year-old. He made tremendous gains at the plate in 2011 in terms of all three hitters’ tools. He even walked more times than he struck out.
Profar is an exceptional defender and gets above average grades for his footwork, arm strength, and hand agility. His bat track from both sides of the plate is textbook and produces quality bat speed and carry. What’s perhaps most impressive is that he has only been hitting from both sides for two years. There is nothing to knock with Profar except that he might be a couple inches short. Get ready, because in a couple of years there is going to be a huge debate about where to put Elvis Andrus, Ian Kinsler, and Profar, because they all need to be on that diamond.
January 13, 2012
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Posted by Daniel "Dee" Clark
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