Danny Hultzen is a highly touted left-handed pitcher who was drafted in 2008 out of high school but opted for college instead. After three years of dominating from the mound at Virginia, Hultzen is listed as the third player on many of the 2011 MLB Mock Draft boards.
Ironically, that third pick belongs to the same team team that drafted him in 2008, the Arizona Diamondbacks. This time around things should go better if Hultzen's name is called by Arizona.
"That'd definitely be something I'd be interested in," Hultzen told MLB Baseball Rumors when asked about being drafted by the Snakes. "I haven't talked to them at all and I haven't talked to any scout like that at all, so that's a little bit down the road, but that'd be something that I'd be willing to do."
Hultzen is a 6-3 lefty with three plus pitches. His fastball touches 95 and he mixes in a change-up and slider. His biggest asset on the mound is control according to this story in the Arizona Republic.
"His command would probably be top 10 in the big leagues right now," an evaluator with an NL club said. "He just doesn't miss."
That assessment doesn't quite jive with the ESPN (Insider) scouting report that projects Hultzen as a number two starter in the big leagues. Of course, Cliff Lee is a number two starter right now but would be the ace of most rotations. Either way, the numbers at Virginia are impressive. He's 9-1 with a 1.19 ERA this season in 11 starts. Kid can swing the bat too, he's got a .333 batting average with 28 RBI in 84 at-bats.