Hultzen was not dominant (though he had 6 K in 6.1 IP). He never looked like he had the hitters bamboozled, and he certainly labored in the first inning in particular.
But! he never gave anything up. He just threw a very effective, if not dazzling, game. And he helped himself with a very athletic defensive play.
It is true that Hultzen is a big part of their offense (he hit 5th and stayed in the game as DH after leaving the mound), so I don't know if we can directly translate how his season will go when he's not batting and taking BP and playing 1b (and, trust me, Charlottesville is a hot, humid place once summer weather starts). I wouldn't discount that they think he'll benefit from giving up hitting.
It seems pretty clear that he's capable of Vargas-plus results even without added zip. Admittedly, that would be kind of a letdown with the #2 overall, but that's also a pretty solid floor if you assume Rendon was damaged goods, that the HS kids wouldn't sign and if you were not a Bauer-believer (I wasn't; Taro was). However, I think that we easily could see more from Hultzen. (But considering that the actual Vargas just beat the actual Cole Hamels, maybe we don't need more than a super-Vargas.)
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