Orioles ''Hoping and Planning'' on Pitching Prospect Making Debut This Season; Averaging 14.7 K/9 This Year

DL Hall is really special. 

The Baltimore Orioles realize that, as General Manager Mike Elias said the organization is ''hoping and planning'' on the twenty-three-year-old to make his MLB debut later this season. 

They just want to see a little more consistency in one area. 

As for DL Hall, Mike Elias said he expects him in the big leagues this season. They want to see consistency at Triple-A first.

"We're counting on him. ... I do plan on and hope on him helping this team this year. But we need him to be consistent in Triple-A."

— Zachary Silver (@zachsilver) August 3, 2022

There's no doubt Hall has been tearing up the minor leagues this year, striking out batters at an unprecedented rate. The 14.7 K/9 he's averaging this season is a good indicator of that. 

However, despite all that, he's having the worst season of his career ERA-wise. The left-handed currently holds a 4.60 ERA on his season. One positive note, is that Hall has progressed from Single-A+ all the way to Triple-A just this year. 

The consistency is a problem though. Hall hasn't been able to make it more than 4.1 innings in a game in six straight starts. If he can't do that at the minor league level, it's pretty clear that he's not ready for the MLB yet. 

Hall is the 64th ranked prospect in all of baseball, and the Orioles' number-four ranked. The elite strikeout rate is there, once they can figure out how to manage the runs, Hall is going to be a problem for batters in the major league. 

We just have to wait and see when that will happen. 

Photo Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports