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Orioles To Promote Adley Rutschman, DL Hall To Triple-A

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The Orioles are planning to promote two of their top prospects to Triple-A, as The Baltimore Sun’s Andy Kostka reports (Twitter link) that catcher Adley Rutschman and left-hander DL Hall will be on their way to the team’s top minor league affiliate.

Had it not been for a triceps strain suffered during Spring Training, it is quite likely Rutschman would’ve already been in the majors by now, perhaps even as early as Opening Day.  Rutschman already hit .312/.405/.490 over 185 plate appearances with Triple-A Norfolk last season, and he doesn’t seem to have much left to prove in the minors.  Even over 24 PA at the Single-A and Double-A levels thus far, Rutschman has a whopping 1.167 OPS.

Arguably the top prospect in all of baseball, Rutschman has been tabbed for a pretty quick ascension to the majors basically ever since Baltimore made him the first overall pick of the 2019 draft.  Considered both an outstanding hitter and defender, Rutschman is the crown jewel of the Orioles’ rebuilding plan, and he is widely seen as a star in the making.  It seems probable that Rutschman’s MLB debut will take place before May is over, and it might even just be a matter of days if the young catcher continues to tear up Triple-A pitching.

Hall was the 21st overall pick of the 2017 draft, and he has battled some injury problems throughout his pro career, including a stress reaction in his throwing elbow that limited him to 31 2/3 innings last season.  The Orioles were somewhat cautious with Hall to begin the season, but moved him to Double-A after a single outing in high-A ball, and Hall is now heading for Triple-A after only one outing for Double-A Bowie (that start came today, with Hall allowing two runs over 3 2/3 innings).  The focus might still be on getting Hall fully ramped-up, so it remains to be seen if he could be on Baltimore’s radar as a late-season call-up before the 2022 season is out.

Orioles Select DL Hall, Five Others

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The Baltimore Orioles have added 6 players to their 40-man roster, the club announced. The names making their way to the roster include left-handed pitchers DL Hall and Kevin Smith, right-handed pitchers Félix Bautista, Kyle Bradish, and Logan Gillaspie, and infielder Terrin Vavra. These additions bring Baltimore’s roster up to just shy of full capacity, at 39 players.

A starting pitcher, DL Hall has been a frequenter of top prospect lists for a few years now in the Baltimore organization. The former first-rounder dominated in his first taste of Double-A in 2021, pitching to a 3.13 ERA with a ludicrous 43.8% of batters striking out against him through 31+ innings. The 22-year-old incurred a left elbow injury that ended his season prematurely, however.

Fellow left-hander Kevin Smith had a mixed season in 2021, flashing strong strikeout (35% strikeout rate) and run prevention numbers (1.34 ERA) in 26 Double-A innings but struggling upon promotion to Triple-A. MLB.com projects Smith as a serviceable Major League-caliber pitcher in the future, but he’ll first have to iron out the rough control issues (17.9% walk rate) that spoiled his Triple-A season.

The 26-year-old Bautista saw his stock sore after a brilliant 2021 season across three levels. Altogether, the right-handed reliever posted a minuscule 1.54 ERA through Triple-A, striking out droves at each level and surrendering just two home runs in 46 innings. If there was one nit to pick, it would be that Bautista’s command was wobbly, as his walk-rate rose as high as 19.3% at the Double-A level.

Right-handed starter Kyle Bradish followed a similar trend as the two most previously listed pitchers, as he dominated in Double-A before coming back to earth a bit after a promotion to the next level. After striking out nearly two batters in inning in 13+ scoreless Double-A frames, Bradish struggled to miss bats or hit the strike zone as often in Triple-A, putting up 4.26 ERA in 86 innings. All told the 25-year-old pitched to a 3.68 ERA and may find himself making his debut for a pitching-strapped Orioles squad in the near future.

Logan Gillaspie, a catcher-turned-reliever out of indie ball, pitched to a 4.97 ERA across 41 innings as he climbed to Double-A for the first time. That ERA may not be the best indicator of Gillaspie’s skills however, as the 24-year-old had a strikeout rate just under 30% to go with above average command and groundball-inducing abilities.

Terrin Vavra is last on the list, as the 24-year-old second baseman is being protected on the heels of a .275/.406/.449 showing. Injuries allowed Vavra to play in just 48 games during the 2021 season, but his patience and ability to play center field in a pinch clearly drew the favor of Baltimore evaluators.

Orioles Add 3 To 60-Man Pool

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The Orioles have added three players to their 60-man player pool, per a club announcement. Outfielder Yusniel Diaz, lefty DL Hall, and infielder Ramon Urias will all be joining the team’s second training location at Bowie.

Each of these players is still working towards a big league debut. In the case of Diaz and Hall, they’ve long been considered among the organization’s top prospects. The former came over in the Manny Machado trade, while the latter was chosen in the first round of the 2017 draft.

Urias, 26, is in a different position. He earned a 40-man spot with the Cardinals but ended up on the waiver wire over the offseason. The O’s plucked the second bagger with intentions of giving him a crack at earning a utility job. He had scuffled in limited Spring Training action, following a rough stretch in the Mexican League, but did turn in a solid .263/.369/.424 output in 375 Triple-A plate appearances last year.

Orioles Sign First-Rounder DL Hall

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The Orioles have announced the signing of first-round pick DL Hall. He’ll receive a $3MM bonus, per Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com (via Twitter).

That payday lands just over the $2,892,400 slot value for the 21st overall pick with which Hall was selected. He and second-rounder Adam Hall both commanded more than was allocated for their picks, but the O’s have cleared added funds by signing later-round choices to below-slot deals.

Hall (the first-rounder) is a high-school southpaw out of Georgia. Coming into the draft, he was ranked well above his ultimate draft position by prospect observers.

Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs and Keith Law of ESPN.com both viewed Hall as one of the draft’s top ten prospects. He drew praise for having three promising pitches (with his change running behind a quality fastball/curve combination) and good athleticism.

While he doesn’t carry a large frame and could stand to further develop his command, per Longenhagen, that’s an intriguing package for a left-handed pitching prospect. MLB.com (#14) and Baseball America (#16) concurred that Hall is one of the most promising players in this year’s crop of talent.

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