9:41 p.m.: Hall will start the game on Saturday, Hyde confirmed to reporters (including Rich Dubroff of Baltimore Baseball). Kostka first suggested so much this afternoon.
2:59 p.m.: Top pitching perspective DL hall is traveling to meet the Orioles in St. Petersburg for their upcoming series against the Rays, reports MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko (Twitter link). Manager Brandon Hyde confirmed Hall has been promoted but hinted the team has yet to decide when he will serve (via The Baltimore Sun’s Andy Kostka).
It’s been half a decade since Hall was drafted into the organization as the 21st overall pick in the 2017 draft. A Georgia High School product, he received a $3 million signing bonus for the strength of a mid-’90s fastball and curveball, which most reviewers considered at least a plus offer. Hall also showed promise of change, but had some questions about the consistency of the slap throw ability.
That report – monster resource coupled with spotty control – has perhaps grown even more extreme during his time in the pro ranks. Baseball America wrote in the offseason that Hall is now touching 100 MPH and averaging about 97 MPH on his heater. That’s an uncharacteristic speed for any starter, but particularly rare for a left-hander. Among MLB starters with more than 30 innings in the season Jesus Lazardo and Shane McClanahan are the only southpaws averaging north of 96 MPH (although Carlo Rodon, Blake Snell and Aaron Ashby are all between 95.5 MPH and 96 MPH).
BA credits Hall with two different breaking pitches — a mid-80s slider and a slightly softer curveball — rating both as at least above-average offerings. The outlet also credits him with the solid change he’s long had in his arsenal, giving him one of the better repertoires of any young pitcher. Hall has appeared in BA’s top 60 potential candidates in each of the last four years, and he was ranked 59th in the latest update of last week’s publication.
This elite arsenal has unsurprisingly translated into many puffs at the minor league level. Hall has fanned more than a third of opponents at every stop since his victory at High-A in 2019. That includes a massive 36% strikeout rate in 18 starts with Triple-A Norfolk this season. The only teammate among International League pitchers with 50+ frames Grayson Rodriguez (widely considered the best pitcher in the sport) punched out batters with a better clip.
However, unlike Rodriguez, Hall has yet to use his arsenal consistently. He has outperformed 10% of batters at every level and awarded free passes to 13.9% of opponents in Norfolk. No qualified big league starter has a walk rate anywhere near that high, and it’s the third-highest mark in this group of International League hurlers with 50 or more innings. The free passes, coupled with an elevated .340 on-ball batting average in the game against him, have contributed to a lackluster 4.76 ERA in his first 70 triple-A innings.
Nonetheless, the Orioles will have a look at Hall against big league hitters in a surprisingly crucial series for Baltimore. They’re 58-53 this year, just a half game behind the Tampa Bay Club, against whom he is likely to make his debut for the American League’s last wild card berth. The next three games are arguably as important as any the franchise has played in over five years. Giving Hall the ball in one of those competitions is a strong vote of confidence in the 23-year-old.
Hall is already on the 40-man list after being added last offseason to avoid being included in the Rule 5 draft, which never materialized. He is in the first of three option years in the minor league and could certainly switch between Baltimore and Norfolk in the coming weeks. We’re already well past the date Hall gets either a full season of service or enough to have a serious possibility of qualifying for early arbitration as a Super Two player after 2024. Even if he plays in the big leagues from now on, he won’t reach arbitration until after the 2025 campaign and won’t be given a free hand until the 2028-29 offseason. This course could be further pushed back by future options for the smaller leagues.