One of the most head-scratching performers in the Orioles’ farm system throughout the past 4-5 years has been left-handed pitcher DL Hall. I have been on my soapbox for three straight springs about why I do not see Hall as having the potential to be an effective option in the rotation for the Orioles. If that sounds as if I am down on Hall, then let me clarify.
Rather than looking at the trajectory of his already lengthy developmental process, the Orioles are trying to shoehorn Hall into being a starting pitcher. That’s the role Hall envisions for himself, but I see another path for him becoming an effective major league pitcher.
Yes, Hall was a first-round pick out of high school in 2017. He actually tossed 10 innings in rookie ball at the tail end of 2017. Hall then threw 94.1 innings at Low-A Delmarva in 2018 and 80.2 innings for High-A Frederick in 2019. He combined to strike out 216 hitters during those two seasons, and heading into the 2020 season, he was named Baseball America‘s No. 47 prospect in the game.
Since then, Hall has never thrown more than the 94.1 innings he tossed back in 2018 with Delmarva because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the injury bug.
So, when I suggest general manager Mike Elias and his team look at the trajectory of Hall’s development, I point to the injuries, the lost season in 2020 and his inability to throw enough strikes.
Will the Orioles be more successful stretching Hall out in 2023? Consider that Hall has been in the organization since 2017 and this regime has somewhat of an ultra-careful way of developing its best pitching prospects.
If you live in a world where a fear of arm injuries guides developmental decisions, well, it’s hard to have your cake and eat it too.
This isn’t the first time I have thrown this idea out for discussion. Readers of this column space know I shouted from the rooftops and argued mightily with former Orioles assistant GM Kevin Malone in the early to mid ‘90s that Arthur Rhodes was not a failed pitcher — he was merely a failed starting pitcher.
Rhodes went on to a long 20-year major league career in which he earned about $39 million. His durability was in large measure a key to his success — he made 839 career relief appearances during his career — and a large part of any pitcher’s success is the ability to get to the mound when the manager needs him.
After both watching Rhodes live and digging into his scattered minor league career, I maintained that certain pitchers are better suited to showing up at the park on edge that they might pitch at any time, rather than have those four or five days in between outings.
Is it possible that Hall could end up with a modicum of success as a big league starter? Sure, but he has a far better chance of being an impact pitcher if he is permanently shifted to relief. I am keenly aware of the expression “you can never have enough pitching,” and I’ll give you that the adage is far more about starting pitching than it is about relievers.
But what is Elias’ timetable for Hall to get stretched out? Though he has suffered no major injuries, Hall has piled up more than his share of seemingly small injuries — including a left lat strain in 2019 and a stress reaction in his left elbow in 2021 — that have stymied his chance to build up his workload as a starter.
On that basis, it’s hard to imagine what the downside would be to exclusively using Hall in relief for two or three months. The 2023 Orioles already figure to have Kyle Gibson, Cole Irvin, Dean Kremer, Grayson Rodriguez and possibly both Tyler Wells and Kyle Bradish in the rotation … and a fella on the comeback trail, John Means.
What’s more, you tell me who gets the call to help the Orioles out this summer if they find themselves in true contention: Corbin Burnes, Jesús Luzardo, Marcus Stroman or DL Hall? At some point in this club’s window of contention, they will have to move prospects for a renowned starting pitcher.
The area of need for the 2023 Orioles looks like it very well could be the ‘pen. It just stands to reason that Hall has now had five years — from 2018 to 2022 — to develop into the next great starter and it hasn’t happened.
It’s not too late for Hall to make his mark. But from where I am sitting and in seeing this play out, it sure feels like Mike Elias is barking up the wrong tree on how to maximize the talents DL Hall has in that powerful left arm.
Photo Credit: Scott Sears