The Brewers acquired hard-throwing lefty DL Hall alongside infielder Joey Ortiz from the Orioles in last week’s Corbin Burnes blockbuster. While GM Matt Arnold was noncommittal about Hall’s role in a chat with reporters in the immediate aftermath of the trade, the 25-year-old indicated the organization views him as a starting pitcher.
“When they called me, they asked me how my training had been going, what I was preparing for. Luckily, I was preparing to be a starter. They want me to be a starter,” Hall said in an appearance on Foul Territory yesterday afternoon (YouTube link).
That the Brewers still view Hall as a rotation fit isn’t surprising. If Milwaukee felt the 6’2″ southpaw was unlikely to stick as a starter, they might not have made him one of two key pieces in a return for their ace. That’s not a unanimous opinion among evaluators, however. Some scouting reports on Hall indicate he’s a better fit for the bullpen because of well below-average control.
Over parts of six seasons in the minors, Hall has walked 13.4% of opposing hitters. He handed out free passes at a similarly concerning 13.8% clip over 49 innings for Triple-A Norfolk a year ago. Hall worked in an abbreviated starting capacity early in the Triple-A season, typically going four to five innings in an appearance. He pitched in a traditional single-inning relief role there late in the year, aligning with his usage at the MLB level.
Other than a 3 2/3-inning start in his major league debut in August 2022, Hall has pitched exclusively as a reliever in the majors. He has a 4.36 ERA in 29 appearances, striking out 29% of batters faced. The former first-round pick has shown better control in that limited big league sample, walking a league average 7.6% of his opponents.
Expecting Hall to maintain a sub-8% walk rate over a full season as a starter is likely too optimistic given his minor league numbers. He will very likely need to cut his walks from the minor league levels if he’s to stick as a starter. Only two MLB pitchers logged at least 100 innings while walking more than 13% of opponents a year ago.
One of them, Blake Snell, won the Cy Young, so it’s not impossible to thrive with this kind of scattershot control. It requires absolutely dominating hitters when the pitcher is around the strike zone, though, with Snell fanning over 31% of opponents and holding batters to a pitiful .180 average. (The other pitcher with 100+ innings and a walk rate above 13% was Michael Kopech, who had a 5.43 ERA.) Hall is credited by prospect evaluators with as many as four plus or better pitches. He has the potential to overpower opponents, but he’d have to walk a very tight rope if he doesn’t get the free passes in check.
It’s worth noting that Hall’s comments about competing for a rotation spot came before Milwaukee agreed to a $7MM deal with free agent righty Jakob Junis last night. Even with Junis expected to take a season-opening rotation spot, it’s unlikely Milwaukee’s usage plans for Hall are any different. The Brewers still have one or two jobs up for grabs behind Freddy Peralta, Junis, and Wade Miley. Hall joins righties Colin Rea and Joe Ross and southpaws Aaron Ashby and Robert Gasser in that competition. Prospects Carlos Rodriguez and Jacob Misiorowski could pitch their way into the mix during the season.
Hall still has one option year remaining. The Brewers can move him between Milwaukee and Triple-A Nashville for another season if he doesn’t stake a claim to a permanent rotation role on Opening Day.
The Brewers don’t have anything to lose trying Hall as a starter, and a lot to gain if they are patient and it works out.
sounds like a gamble, oscar.
So you’re telling me there’s a chance
Let’s not forget in the early stages the Brewers were flirting with making Josh hader a starter but he just became too overwhelming in the 9th inning so it kind of settled that
O’s fan here.
Hall is a good dude, fiery competitor, and has great stuff.
He’s also one of the more frustrating prospects I’ve ever followed between the tantalizing talent, injuries, velo fluctuations and build-ups, etc. He has never really dominated AAA which has been a concern. He has pushed back against comments that he lacks control by saying that he’s bascially doing it on purpose.
He’s just kind of a lot as a prospect. Not a headache or anything, but O’s fans definitely reached “prospect fatigue” with this guy. That said, most of us were pretty psyched about his bullpen stint at the end of last year and penciled him in for late inning Ks this year.
Do I think he’s a starter, no, but I think he’ll be a Tanner Scott-esque bullpen guy.
I think he could definitely hit 2023 Tanner Scott pretty early on. The potential is so hard to not dream on in a rotation—- I understand why Milwaukee wants to give it a go.
It’d surprise me to see him stick there. I think if he does— you have a top of the rotation starter. If not—you’re going to get a lot of 100 pitch outings in 4 innings & you’ll move him right back to the pen. I think his floor is very high though. I can’t imagine a world where he isn’t an effective reliever.
Yep, Tanner Scott comparison is legit because of control issue. That said; interesting comparison to Blake Snell here … also because of control issue. Hmm.
DL is a good dude (teammate) and happens to possess multiple plus pitches. Os fan pulling for him over the long haul.
His problem in the minors was not just walks, but pitch count. 5 innings was a stretch. At every level. The Brewers will need to be really patient.
I think he was very much like Joey Ortiz. Simply too much internal competition. Too many guys outpitched him in the minors and they have McDermott, Povich, Johnson, Peak and Brnovich as AAA starters. And Nick Vespi has a pretty solid MILB resume.
They needed to move him.
We didn’t need to move DL hall. We basically needed to move Joey Ortiz. It was a complete waste and disservice to him. DL is good enough to be in the O’s opening day bullpen
He’s way above a Tanner Scott. He was wild af as a healthy prospect. Hall was injured a lot and that contributed to his control. Now healthy, he is showing what he is capable of. Can he be a starter? Who knows. But Scott had never been considered a starter.Hall started and was stretched all through the minors. Whatever role he takes on in Milwaukee, he’ll be lights out – I’ll take the over.
Hall couldn’t work deep into ball games at any point in his career. I think he’s gone over 5 innings in a start 3x since he left low A ball.
Definitely need to hammer out his control and pitchability if you’re looking at a starter here. It’s questionable. No doubt he’ll be extremely useful as a reliever at minimum.
@NattyBroh, love your moniker! That said; agree to disagree on reasoning for DL’s control struggles. Not sure exactly why, but to me he’s always had’em and regardless of physical health status.
He sounds like the perfect candidate for the vaunted Brewer pitching clinic. Control issues is the speciality. Look for him to stick in the rotation either this season or next. the Brewers wouldn’t have dealt for him if ithat wasn’t the plan.
Well it’s a small sample, so that’s probably what’s going on. But also – a bullpen role where you’re just firing your best stuff over the plate appeared to help. As a SP he’s forced to actually pitch and I’m not sure that’s his best role.
Burnes’ salary is not high. He’s getting paid 40-50% of his yearly salary on a long term contract. You don’t have the long term commitment risk for a top 5-10 pitcher.
You’re correct, when he entered the pen his mentality changed allowing him to attack and let it rip. He confirmed this himself. He said when he was starting he’d move around the zone and waste pitches as part of strategy and in the pen you’re not doing that – you’re just attacking.
Guess who else said this same thing regarding their mentality and approach (albeit both had more command as starters to begin with) starting their careers in the pen getting their feet wet then made sure to carry that pen mentality over with them as starters?
Burnes and Woodruff. Definitely helped both as all they did was attack from there on out. Hall needs this mentality and approach as a starter given his stuff is more than good enough
He blamed the command issues and diminished velocity at the beginning of last season on a back injury during the offseason interrupting his weight training regiment. Once he stopped pitching for a month to go to the training complex to start lifting again his velocity and command did improve.
Brewers pitching staff is second to none. I think Hall figures it out with us (brewers fan here). Corbin Burnes started and failed then was moved to the bullpen as our seventh inning guy and did pretty well. After that, the next season, he figured it out as a starter. I’m confident Hall will do the same .
DL’s command issues are far worse. Burnes or Woodruff didnt have that as a severe issue. I hope he does develop it. (Though it’ll hurt to have given that up) but that’s a tall order. Freddy Peralta didn’t have the best command either but even his base was higher. I don’t know if he can consistently do it—but he’ll be a wipeout bullpen arm if not.
Peralta was a consistent 4+ BB9 in minors and that was mainly just throwing a fastball…when he arrived in MLB he was only throwing a fastball. His command and control have improved annually since while also developing his slider and change. Hall needs to attack hitters and not waste pitches playing games
Burnes absolutely had command issues. Remember all the HR’s he was giving up? The Brewer pitching clinic helped him tremendously.
Hopefully Hall can make up for the Lauer Outage in Milwaukee.
Knowing the Brewers, Hall will end up being a great starter. He even kind of looks like Corbin Burnes from his picture on baseball reference haha!
Think what you will, but I say Milwaukee got good returns for Burnsy (a player that they were not keeping). Both players might be 6 year starters for MIL, and good-to-great ones at that. Sprinkle in the 34th overall Draft pick (that is better than the QO compensation they would have received for Burnes) and it seems like a win/win trade by definition. As with every trade, we really won’t know until years down the road…
Unless Burnes blows his arm out in ST. It’s a far riskier deal for Baltimore. Milwaukee did well.
Not rooting for that outcome, for sure. However, one thing Orioles fans should watch for, it Burnes’s pitch count. He enjoys strikeouts, and gets a lot of them, but he fools around A Lot! Don’t be surprised if he’s around 80 pitches around the 4th inning. It’s a bit maddening really. He had a great defense behind him in MKE, but never seemed to trust it. A guy with his stuff should’ve been able to get through the 7th and 8th routinely. He simply didn’t.
Small quibble, but due to their small market status, the Brewers would most likely receive a comparable pick in 2025. The Twins received the #33 pick in the 2024 draft for losing Sonny Gray.
In any event, the Brewers have set themselves up nicely for a rapid retool. They now have 5 picks in the top 95 this year. If Rhys Hoskins and Willy Adames both decline QOs, they’ll have 6 picks in the first 3 rounds for the 2025 draft. If Hall develops into a shutdown reliever that opens up the possibility of trading Devin Williams for a package of players like they did with Hader (they have already signed him to a 2 year deal to limit future salary increases).
There’s far more of a coherent strategy behind all these moves than most fans realize.
Why does it seem other teams are running circle around the Tigers?
Because they are. Tiger fans deserve better. By the way, I’m on a quest to see a game in all 30 parks. 7 down 23 to go. I made it to Comerica last year and they have a great park to watch a game. Great fans also.
I think the Brewers got a great return. I would be happy if I was a Brewer fan.
Competing for a rotation spot on that staff shouldn’t be that hard..woof. Gonna be a long season for the brew crew
On one hand I agree, being that only 2 spots appear to be locked up.
On the other hand, it seems like they have about 14 guys competing (or those guys believe they will be..) for the other 3 spots. I’m not convinced anyone is going to stand out that much to clearly take a spot, or be awarded 1.
The Brewers won the division with Jhoulys Chacin and Chase Anderson as their top starters.
Was that in 2024? Otherwise I don’t think it means much.
It means having “ace” starting pitchers isn’t a requirement to have a contending team.
They’ll win at least 85 games as usual.
Maybe not. Might have some real good rookies this year.
Sometimes,he could not hit a plate with a fork
However, he does have live stuff and I hope he competes and wins a spot on the rotation
Os fan here as well, rooting for hall and ortiz to have promising career. Id like to see Burnes anchor the Os rotation for years to come but that im afraid is wishful thinking.
Well I’m planning to get a pony for my 12th birthday
Pitching Lab to the Rescue!!
Rough offseason in Milwaukee.
Assuming they trade Adames for a fair price and use that money, it’s an A+ from this Brewers fan.
As is, I’d say a ‘B’
They won’t “use that money”
Ok. I didn’t know that.
I know a lot of fans are clamoring for news this time of year but every pitcher in baseball is “eyeing a starting role.”
I remember another couple of young guys, in the Brewers organization, with electric stuff that figured out they needed to just let it fly. Corbin Burnes was one of them. The other was a pretty well known reliever. Josh Hader. If the Brewers get anything close to either one of those two it was a very good trade.
What ever happened to Bryce Wilson getting stretched out for the rotation? That was the stated plan last season when they acquired him so what happened? Too successful outta da pen?
This is a bad team. Does Adames hold value? It would be one thing to be a low-scoring team and hold onto pitching. Its another thing to have neither.
Just let him pitch when Angel Hernandez is behind the plate, adds to the strike zone and balls being called strikes lol!