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GREEN BAY Elgton Jenkins Jersey , Wis. (AP) — the Green Bay Packers enter this week’s draft looking to add the missing ingredients to a team that has missed the playoffs the last two seasons.“With some of the things that we’ve done, I think where our team sits today, I’m not super concerned about, ‘Hey, we absolutely have to do this or absolutely have to do that,'” general manager Brian Gutekunst said at a news conference Monday.“We can sit back, see where the draft board is strong, try to get there and then take the best players available. … I think it’s a really good draft overall and I think we have a chance to help our team.”The Packers hold the 12th selection in Thursday’s first round. They haven’t had such an early pick since drafting defensive tackle B.J. Raji at No. 9 in 2009. Gutekunst’s maneuvering in the first round of last year’s draft bagged the 30th selection of the first round for this year. Including those picks, Green Bay has six selections in the first four rounds.Leading to the draft, Gutekunst added outside linebackers Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith http://www.packerscheapshoponline.com/cheap-authentic-jace-sternberger-jersey , safety Adrian Amos and offensive lineman Billy Turner. Those signings bolstered three of the Packers’ biggest areas of need. In turn, that eases the pressure on Gutekunst.“I do like our flexibility to be able to move around and not feel like we’re pigeon-holed to have to take a certain position or a certain player,” he said.One position where there is not an immediate need is quarterback, with 35-year-old Aaron Rodgers returning for his 15th season. Still, Gutekunst used one of his predraft visits on Missouri quarterback Drew Lock, who is considered a likely first-round pick. Gutekunst said there’s a measure of “subterfuge” in his use of the 30 predraft invitations. Then again, Brett Favre was 35 when then-general manager Ted Thompson drafted Rodgers in the first round in 2005.“Every year, we spend a lot of time on the quarterbacks and trying to figure out what kinds of players those guys are going to be in the NFL,” Gutekunst said. “And it’s really, really important to us because, if you don’t have one Dexter Williams Jersey , it’s really tough to win in this league. For us, it’s about trying to decide which are the guys that could potentially be starters in this league.”This will be Gutekunst’s second year running the draft but his first with new coach Matt LaFleur. While LaFleur is installing a new offense — that process will continue at the three-day minicamp that starts Tuesday — Gutekunst said has had “minimal” impact on the kind of players he’s been scouting.“You do this for as long as a lot of us have in that room, this is what you work all year for. It’s really exciting to have the ability to try to help your football team and add to that mix”In addition to the first round, the Packers have the 12th selection in each round. Plus, they have an additional picks in the fourth round (last year’s trade of safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to Washington) and the sixth round (last year’s trade of quarterback Brett Hundley to Seattle).For Gutekunst and his staff, it’s almost show time. In the draft room, the board is locked behind curtains to prevent overanalysis. He allowed his scouts to spend Easter weekend with family.“You do get to this point where it’s a little dangerous to react too much,” he said. “And I wouldn’t imagine there would be a whole lot of tweaks between now and Thursday.” The bottom line does not tell the story of Michael Fulmer’s last start.
The Detroit Tigers right-hander overpowered the Cincinnati Reds for 5 2/3 innings on June 20, holding them scoreless while striking out nine.
Fulmer then gave up back-to-back homers on what he felt were well-located sliders. Scooter Gennett, who badly missed a Fulmer slider earlier in the at-bat, golfed a two-run shot over the right-field wall. Eugenio Suarez followed with a blast over the left-field wall.
Fulmer wound up with his sixth loss of the season.
He’ll hope for some better luck in a Thursday matinee against the Oakland Athletics.
The Tigers will be trying to break an eight-game losing streak after dropping the first three games of the series while Oakland will attempt to get its first four-game sweep of Detroit since 2001.
“Last start Nick Bosa Jersey , everything was kind of on cruise control and then Gennett hit a good pitch out,” Fulmer said. “But people don’t see the pitch, they see the results. They look at the linescore and that’s it.
“They don’t see that my fastball velo is up, my sinker’s moving more, my slider has been a lot sharper as of late,” Fulmer continued. “That’s the problem fr om a player’s standpoint and a spectator’s standpoint. ‘Oh, he gave up two home runs in one inning last start, it wasn’t a very good start.’ Don’t worry about the other five innings wh ere I did really well. Sometimes, people don’t think just to give the hitters credit.”
Fulmer (3-6, 4.17 ERA) limited Minnesota and Cleveland to one run in seven innings in each of his previous two outings. He’s throwing as hard as ever, with his four-seamer and sinker averaging over 97 mph this month.
Other than his changeup being a little faster than he’d like L.J. Collier Jersey , Fulmer believes he’s in top form.
“I’m not frustrated with the way I pitched or my stuff,” said Fulmer, who is 2-0 with an 0.57 ERA in two career starts against Oakland. “I’m frustrated with the results and that’s the way it’s kind of been for me so far this season. I’m still very positive. I still trust everything, I feel like we’re very close to being dominant for a full game.”
The Tigers could certainly use one of those outings.
Left-hander Sean Manaea (7-6, 3.40 ERA) will oppose Fulmer after having his scheduled start pushed back a day. He has delivered three consecutive quality starts following a rough patch in May. Manaea allowed four or more earned runs in five of his six May starts but he’s held opponents to a combined six runs in his last three outings.
“I was trying to be too perfect and it was causing me to overthink things,” he said. “Now, I’m trying to keep things simple.”
Manaea has walked just one batter in those three starts while collecting 17 strikeouts. He held the Chicago White Sox to one run on five hits in seven innings during his last start. He lost his only career start against Detroit while giving up three runs in six innings.
Oakland’s streak of hitting a homer in 27 consecutive road games, a major league record, ended on Wednesday but it still came away with a 3-0 victory. Jed Lowrie has seven hits in the series, including two homers and two doubles.