DL Hall 2023

[SpOkane]

11 minutes ago, Just Regular said:

Isn't that the one where you just don't do anything at all with a top prospect?

 

Yep

[Sports Guy]

Hall was supposed to pitch last night but it got rained out and he didn’t pitch at all today.

Could he be coming up with the Dher looming?

[seak05]

Hall only seems to be able to get outs via strikeout. His babip against has to be incredibly high. For a guy who generates a lot of K’s he also gives up a ton of hard contact. Just an odd combo 

[CharmCityHokie]

1 hour ago, seak05 said:

Hall only seems to be able to get outs via strikeout. His babip against has to be incredibly high. For a guy who generates a lot of K’s he also gives up a ton of hard contact. Just an odd combo 

He hasn't being able to regain the velocity he had the last few years on his FB. his changeup is great, but you gotta set it up, and if the batter is sitting first pitch fastball and its 92 lower-middle, bad things happen. You have a better chance if its' 97-98. I'm honestly a little worried.

[Just Regular]

I'll just throw this here in anticipation of our look this weekend at emblem of the pitching state of the art Spencer Strider.

Mr. Just Be A Closer for 5 Innings needed 107 pitches to do so, and his team won again.

The rain that ultimately didn't mess us up too badly in Detroit did push the Braves to a Monday doubleheader today, and they don't get an off day meaning we'll get to see TBD Friday night.

[Just Regular]

Hall got the noon start and just finished five shutout frames - 3 hits, 8/4 K/BB and 52 strikes in 95 pitches.

No Cowser in lineup today.

[Bemorewins]

2 minutes ago, Just Regular said:

Hall got the noon start and just finished five shutout frames - 3 hits, 8/4 K/BB and 52 strikes in 95 pitches.

No Cowser in lineup today.

The walks are still way too high. And that strike percentage is way too low. That won’t cut it at the big league level.

My concern with Hall is that he’s going to be 25 this year and still hasn’t figured out how to dominate at the AAA level.

[Sports Guy]

 

[Sports Guy]

I’m wondering if this is basically ST for Hall?

According to what we heard last week, Hall said the velo issue is due to the back and the lack of training he had leading up to the start of ST. 

If he’s telling the truth (and I think we should assume he is), this tells me that he used what little ST he had to start weight training and throwing but that is only going to do so much.  Almost as if his March was like his normal February and his April is like his normal March.  So, that tells me that we should start to see velo improvements over the next few weeks.

We also don’t know if there are some mental hurdles he has. Not uncommon for that to be the last thing to happen, even if health is there. Perhaps he’s worried about throwing too hard so he doesn’t re-injure the back? 
 

[Chaka Garcia]

12 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

I’m wondering if this is basically ST for Hall?

According to what we heard last week, Hall said the velo issue is due to the back and the lack of training he had leading up to the start of ST. 

If he’s telling the truth (and I think we should assume he is), this tells me that he used what little ST he had to start weight training and throwing but that is only going to do so much.  Almost as if his March was like his normal February and his April is like his normal March.  So, that tells me that we should start to see velo improvements over the next few weeks.

We also don’t know if there are some mental hurdles he has. Not uncommon for that to be the last thing to happen, even if health is there. Perhaps he’s worried about throwing too hard so he doesn’t re-injure the back? 
 

I want to be optimistic, but I don’t think he has the fortitude to be a starter. Walks too many and never been able to pitch 100 innings. Should be switch to Hader role or backend bullpen.

[Sports Guy]

10 minutes ago, Chaka Garcia said:

I want to be optimistic, but I don’t think he has the fortitude to be a starter. Walks too many and never been able to pitch 100 innings. Should be switch to Hader role or backend bullpen.

That’s all possible but it’s not worth that discussion yet and the Os agree.

The velo question is the bigger issue at this moment.

[emmett16]

He looked terrible overall.  Missed arm side all day long.  Hit a batter.  The swing decisions by the Bulls were awful.  Had they been more patient, he would have walked 6 and had a 2 ip outing.  He got lucky in first on a batter interference call on a steal attempt (runner reached on an walk).   Had a strike out/CS in 4th.  The 17 whifs kept him in the game, but to me it looked like the majority of those whiffs were on obvious balls.  He gave up some hard contact.  Couple balls just missed going out. 
 

The curve looked nice.  Got a lot of swing and misses on that pitch.  
 

He’s got to get some stuff figured out.  

Edited May 4, 2023 by emmett16

[justD]

Maybe not terribly relevant, but I found it interesting that the ABS (automated balls and strikes) system was in use today.  I like that what we saw of his ball-strike ratio was true, not at the whim of a minor league ump.  

His first inning was really awful.  Not great the rest of the way, but that first inning was agonizing to watch.  I hope SG's theory is near the mark. 

[emmett16]

5 hours ago, justD said:

Maybe not terribly relevant, but I found it interesting that the ABS (automated balls and strikes) system was in use today.  I like that what we saw of his ball-strike ratio was true, not at the whim of a minor league ump.  

His first inning was really awful.  Not great the rest of the way, but that first inning was agonizing to watch.  I hope SG's theory is near the mark. 

I’m going to start another thread on this but I’m curious what the unintended ramifications of the ABS will be.  IE the batters interference today.  I wonder if the home plate umpire will be more vigilant to other infractions that have gotten a “slide” in the past now that the heavy lifting of calling balls and strikes is off their plate? 
 

The ball strike ratio was skewed by all the swing and miss at non-competitive pitches…..unless his stuff is just that good  

Edited May 5, 2023 by emmett16

[Otter]

7 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

I’m wondering if this is basically ST for Hall?

According to what we heard last week, Hall said the velo issue is due to the back and the lack of training he had leading up to the start of ST. 

If he’s telling the truth (and I think we should assume he is), this tells me that he used what little ST he had to start weight training and throwing but that is only going to do so much.  Almost as if his March was like his normal February and his April is like his normal March.  So, that tells me that we should start to see velo improvements over the next few weeks.

We also don’t know if there are some mental hurdles he has. Not uncommon for that to be the last thing to happen, even if health is there. Perhaps he’s worried about throwing too hard so he doesn’t re-injure the back? 
 

I hope you're right, but I'm not buying his explanation.  Even going back to last year when he was called up, I was disappointed in the velocity.  Most pitchers going from starting to relieving see a significant velocity bump, but we didn't see that with Hall.  Scouting reports all had him sitting mid 90s touching upper 90s/100 as a starter in the minors, so I expected him to easily sit in the upper 90s as a reliver.  That didn't happen.  Here we are in May, and the velocity seems to be declining and not increasing with each appearance.  My gut is telling me there's an injury.  Or there's another option that he's intentionally letting up on velocity to try to improve control/command, but that's obviously not working either.   Whatever the reason is, having our best pitching prospect showing mediocre stuff and terrible control and command is not a good thing for a system extremely thin on pitching...