Hultzen’s Day

Today Danny Hultzen makes his Triple-A debut, pitching for Tacoma at Colorado Springs on Saturday at 5:05 pm (Pacific time). Here are some quick Hultzen facts:

• second player chosen in the 2011 draft, from the University of Virginia
• started his pro career this season at Double-A Jackson
• went 8-3 while leading the Southern League with a 1.19 ERA
• gave up just 38 hits in 75.1 innings – opponents batted .151 against him
• allowed just two home runs
• did not allow a run in his last 26.2 innings pitched
• starting pitcher in the Southern League All-Star game

Hultzen joined the Rainiers on Wednesday night and watched the Reno series from the dugout (or the stands if he was charting pitches). Now he’ll finally take the mound in a Rainiers uniform, starting on Saturday.

Let’s take a look at what Hultzen did, leading up to his Triple-A debut.

Friday:

10:30 pm – watch final out of Rainiers 6-4 win over Reno 

11:15 pm – arrive at team hotel, pack for road trip

midnight – go to bed (I hope by midnight!)

Saturday:

4:30 AM – wake up, shower, meet team at Cheney Stadium

5:30 AM – team bus leaves Cheney for SeaTac airport

7:30 AM – flight leaves SeaTac for Denver

11:10 AM (Mountain time) – arrive at Denver airport

11:30 AM – hold breath while hoping personal luggage arrives

Noon – get on team bus for 90-minute drive to Colorado Springs

1:30 PM – arrive at team hotel in Colorado Springs, check into room.

1:45 PM – eat or nap? That is the question.

3:00 PM – take bus to Security Service Field

3:20 PM – arrive in clubhouse, dress, prepare for start

6:05 PM (Mountain) – make Triple-A debut after long travel day in the highest-elevation professional ballpark in the country

That’s if everything goes off on time with no delays! Welcome to Triple-A, kid.

One other thing to consider: the Rainiers will be playing their first game at Colorado Springs with their new humid baseballs. I have no idea how this changes things – it’s supposed to help keep the scores down; we’ll see. I’ll be asking pitchers about it all series.

Tonight’s game is at 5:05 Pacific, and it will be broadcast live on South Sound Sports 850 AM and streaming online right here. The pre-game show starts at 4:50. If you are a subscriber, video with the Sky Sox radio broadcast over it should be available on MiLB.TV.  The Sky Sox did not name a starter for the game – I guess we’ll find out who it is when we get to the ballpark.

Links:

• Here is the Rainiers game story from Friday’s 6-4 win over Reno. That’s two in a row, baby!
• The Mariners lost in San Diego, although Franklin Gutierrez went 4-for-5 with a homer.
• Nationally, everyone keeps wondering if the Mariners should trade Felix Hernandez. Finally, we have a website that covers this important issue as thoroughly as possible. Click on http://www.shouldthemarinerstradefelixhernandez.com/ for all of the answers.

Sorry, that’s it for today – I couldn’t get to all of the links because my itinerary is similar to Hultzen’s.