Danny Hultzen and Taijuan Walker were the Mariners two representatives in the All-Star Futures Game on Sunday. They both threw one inning. The radar gun is usually considered to be a little hot in Kansas City, but I will just give the velocities that it gave.
Danny Hultzen:
Facing Jean Segura:
93 MPH low and outside corner, called strike
83 MPH changeup at the bottom of the zone for a swinging strike.
Curveball stayed way outside and high at 78 MPH.
Jammed Segura on a 94 MPH fastball on the high inside corner for a foul ball
Curveball coming in on Segura was fouled
Changeup in the dirt basically, fouled off by Segura
Another foul on another 94 MPH jamming Segura again
A high, slightly inside fastball got a grounder to short. Error (technically ruled a hit, but there was no reason for it to be ruled that way)
Facing Jurickson Profar
Jammed and fooled him with a high inside fastball for a foul
Outside changeup at 83 MPH hit for a weak grounder between 1st and 2nd base
May have been an out if they weren’t playing in double play depth.
Facing Oscar Taveras:
92 MPH fastball driven deep to centerfield. Great catch by Antony Gose. Sac fly for a run
Facing Alfredo Marte:
93 MPH fastball inside fouled off. 92 MPH fastball hit for a grounder to 3rd, just foul. 79 MPH curveball down and in chased for a strikeout.
Facing Xander Bogaerts:
92 MPH fastball inside for strike 1 taken. Changeup at 83 MPH on the outside corner was pulled to left field for a single.
Facing Wilmer Flores:
93 MPH fastball up and in on the corner for strike one taken. 94 MPH fastball caught a little more of the plate and was fouled off. A 78 MPH curveball was a grounder to 3rd to end the inning.
Considering the pitchers before him, Hultzen’s stuff is disappointing. The other pitchers were touching 100 MPH, while Hultzen just sat at his normal velocity of 92-94. Other than the one at-bat, he certainly was dominating. In fact, he had real problems putting Segura away. Overall, it wasn’t a bad outing. We haven’t seen him jam hitters with the fastball in Tacoma like he did in the game. Most of his fastballs in Tacoma have been staying up, but not getting in. That has lead to some of the bad results he has had in AAA. He also didn’t have the crazy control problems that have also plagued him in Tacoma. Hopefully for the Mariners, that is behind him.
Taijuan Walker:
Facing Chih Fang Pang:
He started with a 96 MPH fastball that was outside and high. A 95 MPH fastball down the middle was fouled back. Walker followed it with a 91 MPH fastball with not much movement on the inside part of the strikezone for a called strike. A 97 MPH fastball was down and in for a strikeout.
Facing Francisco Lindor: 95 MPH fastball up in the zone was hit pretty hard between 2nd and 1st for a single.
Facing Oscar Taveras: 74 MPH curve just missed low, and had some nice break. A 95 MPH fastball was basically down the middle and was a weak popup on a gigantic swing.
Facing Rymer Liriano: A high 96 MPH fastball for big whiff was followed by a 97 MPH fastball low for a called strike. Walker nearly hit him with a curveball inside. A 96 MPH fastball down the middle turned into a fly-out to center field.
Overall, he didn’t have the control problems that have plagued him somewhat in AA. He really just threw it as hard as he could and challenged hitters. He has the stuff to be able to do that for the most part, especially when he is mixing in the curve. Good outing for Walker, when his fastball is on and being located, he is going to be really really tough to hit.
While we have you here, please take a moment to check out our Forums and Message Boards to discuss everything Seahawks, Mariners, SuperSonics, Sounders and more!
Follow us on Twitter @PaulNovakSSC and Like us on Facebook
Favorite general sports moment: The Texas versus USC college football national championship comes to mind, as does Gary Matthews Jr. catch on July 1st 2006.
Favorite Seattle Sports Moment: King Felix throwing a perfect game against the Rays
Latest posts by Clint Hulsey (see all)
- Hector Noesi as a Starter – May 17, 2013
- How Is Hisashi Iwakuma Missing Bats? – May 12, 2013
- Does The Mariners’ Minor League System Have a Contact Problem? – May 9, 2013
