The Baltimore Orioles finally took a step forward in the player development department in 2022.
They did a phenomenal job with their pitching staff, getting excellent seasons from Dean Kremer, Jordan Lyles, Felix Bautista, Bryan Baker, Austin Voth, Cionel Perez, Dillon Tate, Tyler Wells, and a nice finish by Kyle Bradish.
That was an important factor behind their 83-79 finish in 2022.
However, we often fail to comprehend the quality of the pitching prospects they have.
Two guys are expected to contribute a lot to the 2023 Orioles: Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall.
Rodriguez is universally considered the best pitching prospect in the game, and hasn’t made his MLB debut.
Hall projects as a nice number two-type if he can harness his stuff.
Unlike Rodriguez, Hall did make his MLB debut in 2022.
“I’m thankful for DL Hall. He’s gonna dominate in 2023. Here are all 19 of his strikeouts with the Orioles this season,” Connor Newcomb tweeted.
I'm thankful for DL Hall.
He's gonna dominate in 2023.
Here are all 19 of his strikeouts with the Orioles this season 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/G3rj1GSf6i
— Connor Newcomb (@ConnorNewcomb_) November 24, 2022
His Stuff Leads To A Lot Of Strikeouts
Hall earned those 19 punchouts in just 13.2 innings, showing the quality of his stuff game after game.
Many people are writing off his 2022 cameo as a mediocre showing because he had a 5.93 ERA.
However, almost every other run-prevention metric showed he was much, much better than that.
He was very unlucky this past season: his expected ERA (xERA) was 2.57, his Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) was 1.65, and his expected FIP (xFIP) was a fine 2.84.
Hall does give away lots of bases on balls, but he can be a good middle-of-the-rotation starter even with a high walk rate.
If he can learn to throw more strikes consistently, look out: his high-90s fastball and good slider-changeup combo can make him a star.
NEXT: The Orioles Shattered Expectations In 2022