Made his long awaited major league debut in a relief role in 2022, but he’ll go into 2023 trying to stay in the rotation.
DL Hall
Throws: Left
Age (as of Jun 30th) : 23
2021 Level: AAA/Orioles
Pitches (current/future value)
Fastball: 70/70
https://www.mlb.com/video/00u7jzgkdtP9kH55c356/reels/dl-hall-swing-and-miss-top-of-the-zone
Curveball: 45/50
https://www.mlb.com/video/00u7jzgkdtP9kH55c356/reels/dl-hall-changeup
Change: 50/55
https://www.mlb.com/video/00u7jzgkdtP9kH55c356/reels/dl-hall-change-up
Slider: 60/60
https://www.mlb.com/video/00u7jzgkdtP9kH55c356/reels/dl-hall-slider
Command: 40/45
Most Likely Future Role: High Leverage reliever/Closer
Ceiling: Top of Rotation starter
What we know: After missing most of 2021 with an elbow injury, Hall came back and stayed healthy in 2022. He started the year with one appearance at both Aberdeen (A+) and Bowie (AA) before heading to Norfolk (AAA) and then to the Orioles for a spot start in August before getting promoted to pitch out of the pen in September for the playoff run.
Hall is 4-pitch left-hander with a fastball that sat in the upper 90s and touched 100 MPH in early season starts before settling in to more 95-97 the rest of the season. Not only does he also get good spin rate on the high velocity offering, he has plus extension that actually lets the pitch play up and explains why it’s so hard to hit in the upper portion of the strike zone.
He offsets that with a plus slider that has plus-plus horizontal movement, and an average change and curveball, though the curveball seems to be the pitch he uses the least.
He pitched much better than his ERA would have indicated at both AAA (4.70 ERA vs 3.94 FIP) and in the major leagues (5.93 ERA vs 1.65 FIP/2.84 xFIP) that was mostly due to some truly awful outings. He’s typical hard to barrel up though he did get hit some in AAA when he was missing in the middle of the plate, particularly with his fastball after getting behind hitters.
There in lies the dilemma with this hard throwing lefty. He absolutely has the repertoire and quality of stuff of a starter, but it takes him a lot of pitches to get guys out. Despite being allowed to pitch up to 100 pitches by mid-July, Hall was never able to go more than six innings in any start, and he did that just once on July 6th when he struck out 14 batters in a 98-pitch outing. In fact, Hall pitched five or more innings in only five of his 20 minor league starts.
After the Orioles promoted him for spot start on August 13th against the Blue Jays in which he allowed five ER in just 3.2 IP, they returned him to AAA to work out of the pen the rest of the season. When the roster expanded to 28 in September, the Orioles called him up to finish off the year in the bullpen. Hall was hit around for three ER in his second relief appearance, but afterwards, settled into the role allowing just one ER over 8.2 IP, striking out 11, walking just two, and holding batters to a .235/.278/.265/.543 slash line to flash his promise out of the pen.
What we don’t know: Can Hall find more consistency with throwing quality strikes that he can stick as a starter? Will he be able to give the team a consistent 6 innings or is his best role in the bullpen?
What we think: With his overall stuff, the organization may want to give him one more chance to stick as starter next season, but at 24-years old, he appears to be ready as a high leverage reliever. Hall is a fidgety guy on the mound who can show his emotions at times, so the relief role might be a better fit for his personality as well. With the Orioles entering a window of competitiveness, it makes sense for him to be another high leverage reliever to be counted on rather than deal with his inconsistencies from start to start.
While it’s easy to get down on Hall if he “only” becomes a reliever, the fact that he has strikeout stuff to be that high leverage reliever or closer if needed, makes his value still very high. Here’s his swing and miss K’s this season.
https://www.mlb.com/video/00u7jzgkdtP9kH55c356/reels/dl-hall-k-s
While it’s easy to dream upon him putting it together and becoming a consistent starter on a competitive team, at his age, it might be time to maximize his abilities now at the major league level.
Depending on what moves they make this offseason The Orioles will most likely bring him into camp next year competing as a starter, but the real question will be if he doesn’t look like he will make the rotation, do they send him to AAA to be starter’s depth, or do they get him ready to be a key part of their bullpen?
