Danny Hultzen, the Virginia baseball pitching star that played high school baseball for St. Albans in Bethesda, Md., was selected No. 2 overall by the Seattle Mariners, which was much higher than originally anticipated. There was some buzz leading into the draft that he might slide to the Nationals at No. 6. Instead, he went No. 2, leaving him speechless when Harold Reynolds tried to interview him after being picked. (That's his smile).
↵It's interesting, in a way, that Hultzen goes No. 2. He becomes the highest DMV draft pick since Jay Franklin also went No. 2 overall in 1971, in a sad story chronicled by Josh Barr of the Washington Post Monday. Forty years later, Hultzen ends up going in the same spot in the draft. We hope that he experiences more professional success than Franklin, of course, and goes on to have a long career. Nevertheless, we had to note the coincidence.
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