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Baltimore Orioles select pitcher D.L. Hall in the 2017 MLB Draft

By Ben Palmer

May 5, 2017; Baltimore, MD, USA; A general view of Camden Yards during the game between the Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
May 5, 2017; Baltimore, MD, USA; A general view of Camden Yards during the game between the Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Baltimore Orioles have selected left-handed pitcher D.L. Hall with the No. 21 overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft.

The Baltimore Orioles selected left-handed pitcher D.L. Hall with the No. 21 pick in the first-round of the 2017 MLB Draft.

Hall comes out of Valdosta High School in Georgia and has committed to Florida State for college, however he may elect to forgo that for joining the Baltimore Orioles organization.

Hall is a quality young lefty with some potential to be a good starter in the major leagues. He has a plus fastball that sits in the low-90s and has the ability to touch 94-95 MPH on occasion. While it’s a lively fastball, it can also be a bit straight.

Hall also has a plus breaking ball in his curveball, which has a lot of potential as an out pitch for him. It was rated by many scouts as the best breaking ball in the draft.

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Hall has also added a change-up to he repertoire, however it’s still a work in progress and will likely be a league-average pitch.

When Hall is on, he can overpower and out-finesse batters, but he’s not always on, and that’s the problem. Hall is young, obviously, and with that comes inconsistency.

That being said, there’s a lot of potential here, and if he’s able to rein in his command and control a little bit, he could be a mid-rotation starter for the Baltimore Orioles. Many scouts have compared Hall to Scott Kazmir, mostly because of his size, his left-handedness, and the fact that he works with a low-to-mid-90s fastball with good breaking stuff.

Here’s a highlight video of D.L. Hall via Baseball America:

It makes a lot of sense that the Orioles would go for a pitcher with their first pick in this year’s MLB Draft. Their offense has generally been solid, but the Orioles have been dying for a good starting rotation for more than a decade now.

Between draft busts like Brian Matusz and injured prospects like Hunter Harvey, the Orioles have had a rough go of it as far as pitching prospects though, but things seem to be coming together for at least one of their high draft picks in Dylan Bundy.

Not to mention that, last year at least, Kevin Gausman showed a lot of potential. He’s had some issues controlling some of his pitches which has lead to a bad year so far this year, but there’s still time for him to put things together.

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If Gausman can get it together, Bundy keeps doing what he’s doing, Harvey works his way through his injuries (like Bundy did), and some prospects like Cody Sedlock and Keegan Akin work out, D.L. Hall could be the youngest piece in what could be a good starting rotation for the Baltimore Orioles in the future.

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