DL Hall
Age: 19
2018 Level: Low-A
2018 Stats
Current/Future/Ceiling Grades: 25/60/65
What we know:
Hall lived up to his 1st round pedigree in this, his first full pro season. He’s an athletic lefty who utilizes a dynamic, full-body delivery to generate velocity. While it’s medium-high effort, he has a clean arm action and he has the physicality to repeat it. His fastball was up to 97mph and sat as high as 94-95 in some starts. The pitch has moderate armside run and explosive life when used up in the zone. The command of the pitch isn’t great yet but made big strides throughout the course of the season. Hall also has two potential plus secondaries. The first is a curveball (77-79) that was his best pitch coming out of high school and still flashes plus or better. He lost the feel for it at times this year, dropping his armslot slightly, leading to a slurvy action. It’s not a bad pitch when slurvy, but not the tight 11-5 hammer that he has when he gets on top of it. The second is a rapidly developing changeup, that flashed plus late in the season. His command for it is a work in progress as he loses it armside at times, but it showed massive growth over the course of the season. Over his last 13 starts, Hall allowed just six earned runs while striking 71 and walking 24 in 60.2 IP, holding Sally League batters to a .519 OPS.
What we don’t know:
Hall is a young pitcher who has yet to throw 100 innings in a season, how will he hold up under a heavy workload? Will he adapt to move selective hitters as he moves up? Will he stay healthy?
What we think:
Hall is still a long way from the majors, but more than anyone in the system, he has top of the rotation potential. The amount of improvement Hall made in repeating his delivery, commanding the fastball, and developing his changeup over the course of the season is amazing. You don’t need to use much imagination to see three plus pitches. In addition to the stuff, Hall is a bulldog on the mound. A fierce competitor that has the extra bit of confidence you look for in a high level athlete. While there is the risk that comes with any young pitcher, the upside is too tantalizing to ignore.
Written By Luke Siler
