DL Hall the Number One Carolina League Prospect per BA

[Absltgreek]

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Neither Frederick lefthander DL Hall nor Lynchburg third baseman Nolan Jones is a finished product by any means. Hall still has trouble commanding his mid-90s fastball and two plus breaking pitches, while Jones might eventually have to move to the outfield. Yet those two stood out to Carolina League managers and scouts as the league’s best prospects.

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1. DL Hall, LHP, Frederick (Orioles)
Age: 21. B-T: L-L. Ht.: 6-2. Wt.: 195. Drafted: HS—Valdosta, Ga., 2017 (1st round).

Hall was fifth in the Carolina League in strikeouts despite throwing fewer than 81 innings. That’s the good news. The bad news is that he walked six batters per nine innings.

Scouts say command is the biggest issue with the 21st pick from the 2017 draft. Hall is a good athlete and repeats his mechanics fairly well, but he often misses, especially to the armside.

Hall’s 96 mph fastball, changeup and curveball all have plus potential. He found the zone in the Futures Game in Cleveland, throwing eight strikes in 12 pitches to retire the side in order.

"He has a big-time fastball/breaking ball combo,” Wilmington manager Scott Thorman said. "He’s in the upper 90s. He competes, and he has the ability to strike people out.”

With the Orioles rebuilding, Hall also has the benefit of time. The organization can afford to be patient while developing such a prized arm.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/carolina-league-top-20-prospects-for-2019/

[LookinUp]

This is a quiet board right now. 

Hall himself was quoted as really unhappy with his first half. It seems like everyone who watches him points out his command issues but is still blown away by his stuff. I'll take that. He has great upside and a good enough probability to be really bullish, IMO.

[Luke-OH]

12 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

This is a quiet board right now. 

Hall himself was quoted as really unhappy with his first half. It seems like everyone who watches him points out his command issues but is still blown away by his stuff. I'll take that. He has great upside and a good enough probability to be really bullish, IMO.

One thing important to mention is that when you project command improvements, the main things you look at are arm action, violence of the delivery, and the pitcher's athleticism (and age of course). Hall has a clean arm action and plus athleticism. There is some effort in the delivery but he sustains he stuff late in outings so he has the physicality necessary to repeat his delivery. 

[LookinUp]

I honestly think we wring our hands on this site about his command more than I've heard from the internet evaluators. I know I have. @Frobbydoes too. I'll just assume you guys are right since you know what you're looking at and I'm essentially just looking at stat lines.

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, LookinUp said:

I honestly think we wring our hands on this site about his command more than I've heard from the internet evaluators. I know I have. @Frobbydoes too. I'll just assume you guys are right since you know what you're looking at and I'm essentially just looking at stat lines.

What I’m hearing is that Hall has the necessary tools (e.g., repeatable delivery and athleticism) to improve his command.   That’s great, and I hope he’s able to do it, but he still has to do it to succeed.   

I think next year will be telling for Hall.    Frederick generally is a tough place to pitch, and we saw several of the Bowie starters put up better numbers in Bowie this year than they did last year in Frederick.   By the same token, many pitchers who thrived (statistically) at Delmarva had trouble with the transition to Frederick.    Hence, I am hoping to see Hall start pulling things together on the command front, and if he can do that, I expect him to dominate at Bowie.   

[LookinUp]

28 minutes ago, Frobby said:

What I’m hearing is that Hall has the necessary tools (e.g., repeatable delivery and athleticism) to improve his command.   That’s great, and I hope he’s able to do it, but he still has to do it to succeed.   

I think next year will be telling for Hall.    Frederick generally is a tough place to pitch, and we saw several of the Bowie starters put up better numbers in Bowie this year than they did last year in Frederick.   By the same token, many pitchers who thrived (statistically) at Delmarva had trouble with the transition to Frederick.    Hence, I am hoping to see Hall start pulling things together on the command front, and if he can do that, I expect him to dominate at Bowie.   

Absolutely. If he pulls it together on the command front, I expect him to dominate in the pros at some point, or at least be very good.

[Frobby]

Nobody else from Frederick in the Carolina League top 20, I assume?

[Can_of_corn]

7 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Nobody else from Frederick in the Carolina League top 20, I assume?

Grenier didn't get enough at bats.

[glenn__davis]

11 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Grenier didn't get enough at bats.

Can, I love you brother, but I'd love to know where you keep all those dead horses.

[Moose Milligan]

1 hour ago, glenn__davis said:

Can, I love you brother, but I'd love to know where you keep all those dead horses.

Right on his front porch so everyone can watch him beat them.

I can't get excited about a pitching prospect with command issues.  I understand the reasons for being positive about him, athleticism, repeatable delivery but...I've just seen one too many pitchers come through this organization that don't have command.  That said, I do think we have the front office/coaching in place to help out here, moreso than ever before.  

[Can_of_corn]

7 hours ago, glenn__davis said:

Can, I love you brother, but I'd love to know where you keep all those dead horses.

It amuses me.

[Can_of_corn]

6 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

Right on his front porch so everyone can watch him beat them.

I can't get excited about a pitching prospect with command issues.  I understand the reasons for being positive about him, athleticism, repeatable delivery but...I've just seen one too many pitchers come through this organization that don't have command.  That said, I do think we have the front office/coaching in place to help out here, moreso than ever before.  

I've said this before but I've read that with cases like Hall part of the walk issue might be that the hitters are so overmatched they don't swing.  Hopefully with an increase in competition this won't be an issue.

[Tony-OH]

Worse part of Hall being at Frederick for us is the lack of video available since the Keys and most other Carolina League team don't have video for their games. I have to wait until he gets to Bowie next year to have a better feel for his command.

[Luke-OH]

57 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Worse part of Hall being at Frederick for us is the lack of video available since the Keys and most other Carolina League team don't have video for their games. I have to wait until he gets to Bowie next year to have a better feel for his command.

4-13

4-26

8-1

Those three games have video of Hall's starts if you haven't seen them yet. 

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, Luke-OH said:

4-13

4-26

8-1

Those three games have video of Hall's starts if you haven't seen them yet. 

Think i saw the 13th and 26th.. Thanks