Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 8-23-18

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Box Scores:

 

Iowa in progress Box Score

 

Tennessee lost 2-1 Box Score

 

Myrtle Beach lost 5-4 Box Score

 

South Bend won 10-9 (10 innings) Box Score

 

Eugene in progress Box Score

 

AZL Cubs 1 in progress Box Score

 

AZL Cubs 2 lost game one 1-0 (7 innings) Box Score

 

AZL Cubs 2 (game two) PPD - Rain

 

DSL Cubs 1 won 11-2 Box Score

 

DSL Cubs 2 lost 7-6 Box Score

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Duncan Robinson to Iowa.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Weird: https://twitter.com/iowacubsgameday/status/1032820003282804737?s=21

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Danny Hultzen in the AZL: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[toonsterwu]

Danny Hultzen in the AZL: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

 

As a UVA fan, I'm obviously biased, but I am really curious if he can bounce back.

 

His abbreiviated stint against South Carolina in 2011 in the tournament was as good a performance as I've seen, considering the circumstances (he was vomiting between innings). That wasn't a bad South Carolina team ... they won their 2nd title after-all ... had Jackie Bradley Jr., Evan Marzili, Christian Walker in that lineup. Hultzen mowed them down. I believe it was something like ... 25 pitches to strike out 6-7 guys? It was something insane. Yes, Cole and Bauer had higher ceilings, but there was a very legitimate case for Hultzen to go superbly high that year (although to be fair, I was stunned when he went 2).

 

His stuff was that good, but as he's said in interviews, after getting to the pros, he lost the discipline and structure of college, and started feeling pressure and started messing with his delivery. Certainly, the expectations should be zero ... but if he finds anything close to his old form ... that's still a good arm.

[Regular Show]

Danny Hultzen in the AZL: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

 

As a UVA fan, I'm obviously biased, but I am really curious if he can bounce back.

 

His abbreiviated stint against South Carolina in 2011 in the tournament was as good a performance as I've seen, considering the circumstances (he was vomiting between innings). That wasn't a bad South Carolina team ... they won their 2nd title after-all ... had Jackie Bradley Jr., Evan Marzili, Christian Walker in that lineup. Hultzen mowed them down. I believe it was something like ... 25 pitches to strike out 6-7 guys? It was something insane. Yes, Cole and Bauer had higher ceilings, but there was a very legitimate case for Hultzen to go superbly high that year (although to be fair, I was stunned when he went 2).

 

His stuff was that good, but as he's said in interviews, after getting to the pros, he lost the discipline and structure of college, and started feeling pressure and started messing with his delivery. Certainly, the expectations should be zero ... but if he finds anything close to his old form ... that's still a good arm.

 

I remember reading an article at the beginning of the year on theathletic about how his mechanics were really poor in college and that he was throwing across his body (not always a bad thing btw). I don't recall watching him in college, but UVA has a bad history with pitchers.

 

I think he's changed his mechanics from what it was when he was younger. I believe he said his old delivery put a lot of stress on his shoulder and that he didn't incorporate his lower half enough? I'll have to go back and find it...

 

I hope he can make it all the way back because it'd be a really good story and we could use a decent lefty in the BP next year. Duensing and Wilson need to go. I don't fully trust Rosario, but he has decent stuff. Not sure if we're going after Miller or Britton. More potential options all the better.

 

EDIT: So I found the article. Pretty good read overall:

 

https://theathletic.com/296474/2018/04/02/gammons-danny-hultzen-the-no-2-pick-in-the-great-2011-draft-isnt-giving-up-just-yet/

 

What led to the injury was not that he was a soft preppy, or an underachiever, or anything similar. It was likely his delivery. Hultzen threw from the third base side of the rubber, the glove side, which one study has claimed results in elbow and shoulder issues. Hultzen was striding two-and-a-half feet towards first base, then throwing across his body. “Basically, all I was doing was using my arm,” he says. “I didn’t use my lower half at all. What I was really doing was constantly twisting to throw the ball.”

 

“That delivery closed off his lower side, which put his arm in a bad position and his landing leg not going to the catcher and home plate,” says Benedict. Terry Clark had suggested moving off the third base side of the rubber to the middle or first base side. This spring, Hultzen had already begun his transformation.

 

“Danny now has a direct line to the catcher,” says Benedict. “He has much better power in his lower half, his arm is in a much better place, he isn’t cutting himself off so his looseness and arm speed are very different, far better. He is an exceptional talent, so good an athlete that he also was a very good hitter in college, and a tremendous person who loves baseball. I am very optimistic about his future.

Edited August 24, 2018 by Regular Show

[CubsWin]

That was nice to see. Now he needs to repeat that next time out. And the time after that...

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[Hrubes20]

 

Definitely have to root for the guy. That fastball actually looked like it had a little bit of zip. I was expecting low-80's from him after 2 shoulder surgeries.