Daniel Alexander Hultzen (born November 28, 1989) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the Chicago Cubs in 2019. Hultzen attended the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

, where he starred for the

Virginia Cavaliers baseball The Virginia Cavaliers baseball team represents the University of Virginia in NCAA Division I college baseball. Established in 1889, the team participates in the Coastal division of the Atlantic Coast Conference and plays its home games at Daven ...

team. He was drafted and selected second overall by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

in the

2011 MLB draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the first ...

. Hultzen pitched a scoreless inning for the Cubs in his major league debut against Milwaukee on September 8, 2019.

High school career

Hultzen attended St. Albans School in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

starting in seventh grade. There he was named First-Team All-American by Baseball America.Virginia Cavaliers: Danny Hultzen
''University of Virginia'' Hultzen was drafted to the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

in the 10th round of the

2008 MLB Draft The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008. First round selections ;Key Supplemental first rou ...

. However, Hultzen didn't sign, opting to attend college.

College career

Hultzen enrolled at the

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

for the

team in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). In 2009, Hultzen won ACC Freshman of the Year for baseball and was named First-Team All-ACC. He was also named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll and All-ACC Baseball Team. In 2010, Hultzen was named ACC Pitcher of the Year. He is the first Virginia Cavalier to win the award.Danny Hultzen and the 2011 MLB Draft
''The Good Point'', June 6, 2011 He was also named First-Team All-ACC a second time. Over the 2010 season, Hultzen finished with a 10–3 record and an ERA of 1.59 in innings. In 2011, Hultzen won the

John Olerud Award The John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award (known colloquially as the John Olerud Award) is a college baseball award given to the best two-way player of the season. The award is named after former Washington State Cougars All-American pitch ...

, awarded annually by the

College Baseball Foundation The College Baseball Foundation was formed in 2004 in Lubbock, Texas as a non-profit organization, with the dual aims of awarding the Brooks Wallace Award, and creating the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. The organization also annually pres ...

to the best

two-way player In sports that require a player to play on offense and defense (such as basketball and ice hockey), a two-way player refers to a player who excels at both. In sports where a player typically specializes on offense or defense (like American footb ...

of the season.

Professional career

Seattle Mariners

On June 6, 2011, Hultzen was the second player selected in the

2011 Major League Baseball draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the firs ...

, taken by the

. Hultzen signed a contract with Seattle on August 15. The deal was worth a minimum of $8.5 million over five-years, with a $6.35 million signing bonus. He made his professional debut in 2012 with the

Jackson Generals The Jackson Generals were a professional baseball team located in Jackson, Tennessee. From 1998 to 2020, they were a part of Minor League Baseball's Southern League (SL) as the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs (1998–2006), Seattle Mari ...

and was promoted to the

Tacoma Rainers The Tacoma Rainiers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Tacoma, Washington, and play their home games at Cheney Stadium, which opened in 1960 ...

in June. In 25 total starts between the two clubs, he was 9–7 with a 3.05 ERA. He was named to appear in the 2012 All-Star Futures Game. Hultzen missed the majority of the 2013 season due to a shoulder injury. After the 2013 season, he underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum and

rotator cuff The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the human shoulder and allow for its extensive range of motion. Of the seven scapulohumeral muscles, four make up the rotator cuff. The four muscles are the supraspi ...

in his shoulder, and missed the entire 2014 season. He played in only three games in 2015 due to injury. In 2016, while rehabbing with the

AZL Mariners The Arizona Complex League Mariners are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Arizona. The team is com ...

, he suffered recurring problems and underwent another surgery. Hultzen sat out the 2017 season while finishing his university degree.

Chicago Cubs

Hultzen signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs in March 2018. He was assigned to Triple-A Iowa to start the 2019 season. Hultzen allowed zero runs in his major league debut on September 8, 2019. He pitched the seventh inning for the Cubs against the Brewers in Milwaukee. After issuing a hit batsman and a single, he struck out the side. On December 2, 2019, Hultzen was non-tendered by Chicago and became a free agent. On January 22, 2020, Hultzen re-signed with the Cubs on a minor league deal. He became a free agent on November 2, 2020. On January 14, 2021, Hultzen announced his retirement, and joined the Chicago Cubs front office as a pitching development assistant under Assistant General Manager and Vice President of Pitching Craig Breslow.

Scouting report

Hultzen was considered one of the most polished prospects in the 2011 draft class due to the excellent command he had over his pitches. In addition to his pitching, Hultzen was considered an excellent position player, although it was unlikely he would ever have been developed as a position prospect. His main pitch was a

four-seam fastball A four-seam fastball, also called a rising fastball, a four-seamer, or a cross-seam fastball, is a pitch in baseball. It is a member of the fastball family of pitches and is usually the hardest (i.e., fastest) ball thrown by a pitcher. It is c ...

at 91–94 mph. He also had a

two-seam fastball A two-seam fastball is a pitch in baseball and softball. It is a variant of the straight fastball. The pitch has the speed of a fastball and can also include late-breaking action caused by varying the pressure of the index and middle fingers on t ...

with similar velocity. His off-speed pitches were a

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and

vulcan changeup In baseball, the vulcan changeup pitch (otherwise known as a vulcan or trekkie) is a type of changeup; it closely resembles a forkball and split-finger fastball. It is a variation of the circle changeup, and when mastered can be extremely effective ...

in the low 80s. Hultzen struggled with his control in AAA in 2012, walking 43 hitters in innings. Addressing those concerns, Hultzen said, "You need to learn how to fail in this game ... I haven't faced a lot of failure as a pitcher. You need to learn how to cope with it, and I think I have. Hopefully most of it is behind me."

References

External links

Player Bio: Danny Hultzen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hultzen, Danny 1989 births Living people All-American college baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Maryland People from Bethesda, Maryland Chicago Cubs players Virginia Cavaliers baseball players Jackson Generals (Southern League) players Tacoma Rainiers players Arizona League Mariners players Peoria Javelinas players Arizona League Cubs players Iowa Cubs players St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.) alumni