Left-hander DL Hall is traveling to St. Petersburg, Florida, to join the Orioles on Friday, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation told The Baltimore Sun, potentially adding an electric arm to the club’s pitching staff for the season’s final stretch.
It’s not yet clear when, or if, Hall will make his major league debut, and in what role. The Orioles (58-53) open a three-game series against Tampa Bay on Friday night at Tropicana Field sitting a half-game behind the Rays for the final American League wild-card spot. Right-hander Austin Voth is scheduled to pitch Friday, with the next two turns in the rotation still to be announced.
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said the plan is fluid for Hall, who was originally scheduled to pitch Saturday at Triple-A Norfolk.
“He’s joining us. He’s going to be in the traveling party. We’ll get through tonight’s game and see about tomorrow,” Hyde said before Friday’s first pitch. “It’s gonna be playing tonight’s game and we’ll see.”
Hall, 23, was Baltimore’s first-round pick, No. 21 overall, in the 2017 Major League Baseball draft out of Valdosta High School in Georgia. He has since established himself as one of the game’s top pitching prospects, with his dynamic stuff — including a fastball that touches 100 mph — helping to overcome spotty command. He’s experienced an up-and-down season spent mostly at Triple-A, with a 4.76 ERA at that level but 114 strikeouts in 70 innings.
Hall was off to an impressive start to the 2021 season at Double-A Bowie before he suffered a stress fracture in his pitching elbow, which ended his season after seven starts. Baltimore has been cautious in building up its No. 4 prospect this season, but he’s worked deeper into games of late.
On Aug. 2, he reached the 100-pitch mark for the first time as a professional, but it came as he walked five and allowed three home runs in four innings in a second straight rough start. He bounced back Sunday by pitching into the sixth inning on 99 pitches, striking out eight while allowing two runs.
“We saw DL for a brief time in spring training,” Hyde said. “He obviously has a very special arm and we’re excited for our future. Like I said, we’ll see how tonight goes and we’ll go from there.”
The young left-hander would be the latest top prospect to join the Orioles this season, following right-hander Kyle Bradish, catcher Adley Rutschman and infielder Terrin Vavra. Since being called up May 31, Rutschman has built a strong case to be considered AL Rookie of the Year. Baseball’s former top prospect entered Friday batting .250 with a .791 OPS in 64 games while leading a resurgent pitching staff, helping the Orioles go from eight games below .500 at the time of his call-up to the thick of the wild-card race.
Hall, meanwhile, could be the first of the next wave of top prospects to arrive in Baltimore in the fourth year of the club’s rebuild under executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias. Triple-A Norfolk shortstop Gunnar Henderson was recently named the sport’s top prospect by Baseball America, while Norfolk right-hander Grayson Rodriguez threw off a mound Wednesday for the first time since he landed on the injured list with a Grade 2 lat muscle strain. Hall is ranked the No. 59 overall prospect by Baseball America, while Rodriguez is the game’s top pitching prospect at No. 4 overall.
Last month, Elias acknowledged that Henderson, Hall and infield prospects Vavra and Jordan Westburg were pushing to join the big league club sooner than later.
“Anybody who’s playing as well or as talented as the four of those guys are, it could happen at any moment,” Elias said.
MASNsports.com was the first to report Hall is joining the team in Florida.
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