The Mariners need relievers and they may find one in house. In his meeting with the beat writers Tuesday afternoon at the baseball Winter Meetings in Nashville, Jerry Dipoto said that former number two overall pick Danny Hultzen would report to spring training as a reliever.
Hultzen's comeback from labrum, capsule and rotator cuff surgery hit a bump in the road last summer and he was shut down in late July. He is expected to report to spring training ready to pitch and rather go with the original plan of keeping him in the starter role, a role that requires more pitching per outing, but comes with a more structured routine, the Mariners will try him in relief.