Danny Hultzen Feels Like He Has A New Arm

[cezero]

http://m.mariners.mlb.com/news/arti...zen-fully-cleared-feels-like-he-has-a-new-arm

"I'm very excited," the former Virginia standout said. "I'm just really happy to be able to play again. The rehab went well. It was tough watching these guys last year, but I'm glad to be here now."

"The whole process went smoother than I thought, having talked to people who'd had arm surgeries and gone through a lot of ups and downs," he said. "Luckily I never really went through that, knock on wood. I felt good the entire time and didn't have any major setbacks or anything like that."

"I'm good to go. There's no restrictions or anything," he said. "I'm treating myself like I'm fully healthy, which I am. I don't think there'll be any reservations about being in a game or holding back or anything like that. I feel like I have a completely new arm, which is great."

I know the signing is hated by a lot of people on here, but it's done, so I think it's time to move along and start thinking about what he could add to the team.

If he pitches near his potential, he could add a lot of depth to our rotation and also become very attractive trade bait.

Hoping for the best.

Just imagine if we had a complete, healthy starting rotation with a lot of depth to start the year after the kind of disastrous start we had last year with starters.[/quote][/quote]

 

[unlvmariners]

If he is healthy and can pitch to his potential then he can certainly play a big role in the teams success in the near future... If Hultzen has a good spring I still think you start him in AAA. He may just force his way into the rotation at some point or he could become a valuable trade chip again.

I always say you can never have too much pitching. Starting pitching depth is important especially for this upcoming season. You never know who can get hurt or if the younger pitchers will make it. I would welcome a healthy and successful season from Hultzen.

 

[Mariners_44]

His injury may devalue him in a trade, and so I think I would rather keep him and reap the hopeful rewards. When you look at our battle for starters I think it looks like this:

1. Felix Hernandez
2. Iwakuma
3. J.A. Happ
4. Paxton
5. Walker
6. Elias
7. Hultzen
8. Erasmo

With Walker and Elias battling it out for the 5th spot, I find Hultzen definitely starting in AAA with the possibility of coming up in lieu of an injury or two. Erasmo is on this list, but I hope he never makes it up to the big club; dude scares me. With Hultzen working on his craft in AAA, this team has solid depth assuming they stay healthy.

 

[NWinAZ]

Ya, time to make lemonade since we were handed lemons.

 

[wazzu31]

Even if Hultzen doesn't reach his full potential I think it helps the organization overall by making Elias expendable in a deal. IMO Elias has much better trade value than Hultzen and they need to use it to get an outfielder at the deadline.

 

[cezero]

Lineups were figuring out Elias towards the end of the season, which is perfectly normal, really. I'm hoping he has worked on everything else this offseason to complement that tear-inducing curve. He strikes me as a hard worker, so I'm sure he did.

Exactly nobody knows what Hultzen's capable of yet. All we know is that his numbers were significantly better than Walker's at AAA in 2013 before he got hurt. He was on the road to come up with or maybe before Walker to the bigs if he hadn't gotten hurt. Nobody knows what would have happened.

In short, we have no idea what Hultzen's or Elias's trade value will be when that decision comes around.

 

[wazzu31]

Lineups were figuring out Elias towards the end of the season, which is perfectly normal, really. I'm hoping he has worked on everything else this offseason to complement that tear-inducing curve. He strikes me as a hard worker, so I'm sure he did.

Exactly nobody knows what Hultzen's capable of yet. All we know is that his numbers were significantly better than Walker's at AAA in 2013 before he got hurt. He was on the road to come up with or maybe before Walker to the bigs if he hadn't gotten hurt. Nobody knows what would have happened.

In short, we have no idea what Hultzen's or Elias's trade value will be when that decision comes around.

I'm more speaking of how I'd suspect that scouts/organizations would be willing to part with a better package for Elias because IMO his stuff/ceiling is higher.

 

[NWinAZ]

Agreed. Higher ceiling due to stuff shown at MLB level as well as great age and contract.

 

[EVille3]

Agreed. Higher ceiling due to stuff shown at MLB level as well as great age and contract.

Hultzen is actually a year younger than Elias and with comparable contract...

 

[NWinAZ]

Hultzen is actually a year younger than Elias and with comparable contract...

How does his MLB stats compare?

 

[NWinAZ]

And Hultzen makes just over 3X Elias does.

 

[wazzu31]

Even with comparable contracts, if Hultzen maxes out his full potential he is what a slightly harder throwing Jamie Moyer? Who even at his best couldn't net a top 10 prospect, I really don't think any person would look at what Elias has shown to this point and not think his potential ceiling is higher, his floor may be lower but trades don't happen where organizations give up guys who help the other organization where they choose the safer prospect.

 

[EVille3]

And Hultzen makes just over 3X Elias does.

Yes, but Elias doesn't have deal after this year and Hultzen hasn't started his 5 year rookie deal yet, correct? Or am I reading things wrong?

 

[NWinAZ]

Greg Johns ‏@GregJohnsMLB 1h1 hour ago

McClendon pleased to see Hultzen throwing and says he has no restrictions, but "we’re probably building more for 2016 with him."

 

[NWinAZ]

Yes, but Elias doesn't have deal after this year and Hultzen hasn't started his 5 year rookie deal yet, correct? Or am I reading things wrong?

Elias: Arb Eligible: 2017, Free Agent: 2020 [*], Agents: Relativity Baseball [*] (Per Baseball Reference)

Hultzen: 2014-16: Pre-arb. Eligible, 2017-19: Arb. Eligible, 2020: Free Agent (Per Rotoworld)

 

[cezero]

Glad to see Hultzen is pain free and has full mobility.

Rehab is such a long, tedious process for shoulder surgery. I almost gave up on rehab because it felt like it was doing nothing for 6 months. If anything, it hurt more in the middle months. But the doctors urged me to stay with it because even if I wasn't feeling immediate results, it would pay off in another 6 months when the internal scarring was fully done. If the inflammation and scarring aren't dealt with properly through rehab, you're just asking for a relapse was what they told me.

They were right. It took over a year to get full mobility and range of motion back, and not even worry about about pain when doing something as simple as stirring a batch of refried beans on the stove.

For a throwing athlete, it must be doubly or triply horrible to go through all of that.

 

[wazzu31]

Glad to see Hultzen is pain free and has full mobility.

Rehab is such a long, tedious process for shoulder surgery. I almost gave up on rehab because it felt like it was doing nothing for 6 months. If anything, it hurt more in the middle months. But the doctors urged me to stay with it because even if I wasn't feeling immediate results, it would pay off in another 6 months when the internal scarring was fully done. If the inflammation and scarring aren't dealt with properly through rehab, you're just asking for a relapse was what they told me.

They were right. It took over a year to get full mobility and range of motion back, and not even worry about about pain when doing something as simple as stirring a batch of refried beans on the stove.

For a throwing athlete, it must be doubly or triply horrible to go through all of that.

I don't have a doubt the Mariners wouldn't allow him to even attempt to throw if they didn't think he was ready. One thing that the Mariners actually do rather well is their medical staff IMO.

 

[Anointed One]

I see more upside with Hultzen than I do w/ Elias... Not sold on Elias as a mainstay in our rotation this year...

 

[NWinAZ]

I agree with that IF Hultzen can stay healthy. We don't need to see the return of Bedard 2.0.

 

[seattlefan75]

Im not completely sold on Elias yet believe me I hope he turns into a solid pitcher for us but I wouldnt be surprised if he has a slump sophomore year. Im actually excited to see hultzen pitch you guys need to cut this guy a break this man was looking like cliff lee in the minors and was on his way up before he went down with his injury