Pitching prospect DL Hall regaining form in Triple-A with improved velocity – The Denver Post

The Orioles need another reliever to step up into a high-leverage role.

Could that be DL Hall?

It’s been an up-and-down 2023 season for the Orioles’ top pitching prospect. He had a slow start to spring training after recovering from a back injury. It prevented him from having a typical offseason in the weight room, causing his velocity to dip as he began the year with Triple-A Norfolk building up as a starting pitcher.

The club then sent him down to its facility in Sarasota, Florida, for about six weeks to focus on strength training over throwing in hopes of building up his velocity. That plan, it seems, has worked, as the left-hander appears to be mostly back to himself since rejoining Norfolk in a short-relief role — perhaps the one he’ll fill in Baltimore once rosters expand in September.

Whether Hall actually joins the roster or performs to a level that gives manager Brandon Hyde the trust to put him into big spots remains to be seen. But he has perhaps as good a chance as anyone to earn innings to bridge close games from the starter to Danny Coulombe, Yennier Cano and Félix Bautista given his brief success in the bullpen last September and his talent as a top 100 prospect on Baseball America’s list.

In his final outing before he went to Sarasota to focus on regaining his lost velocity, Hall averaged 93.2 mph on his four-seam fastball and topped out at 94.7 mph — radar readings about 2-4 mph lower than expected for the 2017 first-round pick. But once he returned to Triple-A in early August, he mostly regained his lost velocity, averaging 95.7 mph and topping out at 98 mph.

“When you look at overall workload from a season, it’s really hard to truly get into a strength phase,” Norfolk pitching coach Justin Ramsey said in June. “There’s just so much wear and tear on the body when you’re throwing 80 to 100 pitches every five or six days. Making that his priority to get his strength back, knowing he wasn’t able to lift [weights] for an extended period of time, you have to step back somewhere.

“That’s something that we as an organization put a lot of thought into … to kind of say this is more of a priority for the long term of getting this guy back to being ready to help the major league club win.”

In 6 2/3 innings across five appearances over the past two weeks, Hall has allowed two runs on three hits and two walks, while striking out a whopping 15 batters. In his most recent outing Friday, Hall struck out the side in order on 15 pitches — inducing four whiffs on seven swings. He averaged 96.9 mph on his fastballs and topped at 97.7 mph.

If Hall continues pitching like that for the rest of the month, he could find his way to Baltimore, joining a middle relief corps of Shintaro Fujinami, Mike Baumann, Cionel Pérez and Jacob Webb with the club’s hope that one or more of those arms turn into dominant ones over the stretch run.

While Hall is one of the few prospects with the chance to be called up in September, that doesn’t mean the rest of the farm system should be ignored. That’s why each week, The Baltimore Sun will break down five of the top performers in Baltimore’s prospect ranks and hand out some superlatives for those who didn’t make that cut.

1. Triple-A Norfolk outfielder Colton Cowser

Cowser struggled during his first stint in the major leagues, but he returned to his old ways in his first week back in the minors. The Orioles’ No. 2 prospect went 7-for-20 with three doubles, two homers, five RBIs and five walks last week to boost his OPS with the Tides to 1.022 after posting a .443 OPS in 77 plate appearances with the Orioles.

2. High-A Aberdeen catcher Samuel Basallo

Perhaps no prospect in the Orioles’ system has risen as much as Basallo this year, and he continued proving why last week. The 19-year-old catcher went 8-for-19 with two doubles, a triple, a homer, five RBIs, four walks and two stolen bases. Basallo, a Dominican Republic native the Orioles signed in January 2021, is now a top 100 prospect and ranked as the Orioles’ fourth-best.

3. Low-A Delmarva center fielder Enrique Bradfield Jr.

Bradfield has hit the ground running — literally — since beginning his professional career earlier this month. The No. 17 pick in the 2023 draft has 14 stolen bases in his first 12 games. Last week for the Shorebirds, the Vanderbilt standout went 8-for-18 with a double, four walks and five stolen bases. In nine Low-A games, Bradfield, the Orioles’ eighth-best prospect, is slashing .357/.581/.393 — good for a .974 OPS — with 13 walks and 13 stolen bases.

4. Triple-A Norfolk corner infielder Coby Mayo

Mayo struggled a little to begin his Triple-A career, but he is coming off his best week at the new level. The club’s No. 3 prospect went 6-for-19 with a double, a home run, six RBIs and five walks. The 21-year-old is hitting .224 with a .767 OPS in 32 games with the Tides.

5. High-A Aberdeen right-hander Trace Bright

Across two starts last week, Bright struck out 11 and allowed just five hits in 8 1/3 innings. The 22-year-old totaled eight punchouts in 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball to earn the win Tuesday and then allowed two unearned runs in three frames Sunday. Bright, the Orioles’ fifth-round pick in 2022, has a 4.35 ERA and an impressive 34.9% strikeout rate in 82 2/3 innings this season. Baseball America ranks Bright as the club’s 30th-best prospect.

The top prospect not featured so far

By his lofty standards, Jackson Holliday had a bad week. He only had an .822 OPS. The 19-year-old shortstop went 5-for-21 with two triples and six walks for Double-A Bowie. Holliday, the No. 1 prospect in the sport, is slashing .350/.431/.550 in 25 games with the Baysox.

International acquisition of the week

The Orioles acquired outfielder Elio Prado at 17 years old as part of the Andrew Cashner trade at the 2019 deadline. Now in High-A, Prado just had his best week for Aberdeen. The 21-year-old went 10-for-24 with three doubles, a triple, a home run, three walks and two stolen bases. After posting a .743 OPS with the Shorebirds, Prado has a .683 OPS with the IronBirds since his mid-July promotion.

Time to give a shoutout to …

Basallo isn’t the only catching prospect adjusting well to a new level. Silas Ardoin, the Orioles’ fourth-round pick in 2022, hit .215 with a .369 on-base percentage in Aberdeen before his recent promotion to Bowie. In 12 games with the Baysox, Ardoin is slashing .364/.429/.500 — good for a .929 OPS. Last week, the 22-year-old went 8-for-18 with two doubles and a home run.

Short-season snippets

Tuesday marks the end of the Florida Complex League and Dominican Summer League seasons. The rookie ball leagues feature the organization’s youngest players, and the Orioles’ FCL club had three current or former top 30 prospects spend the summer in Florida.

Outfielder Braylin Tavera, who Baseball America ranks as Baltimore’s 22nd-best prospect, posted an .801 OPS in 34 games. The Orioles signed the Dominican Republic native to a $1.7 million signing bonus in January 2022. Leandro Arias, another member of the 2022 international class out of the Dominican Republic, posted a .766 OPS in 43 games. Arias is ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Orioles’ 19th-best prospect. Shortstop Maikol Hernández, who fell out of MLB Pipeline’s Orioles top 30 list after ranking No. 21 last year, hit just .179 with a .577 OPS. Baltimore signed Hernández in January 2021.

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