Season comes to early end for O's prospect Hall

For left-hander DL Hall, one of the top blue-chippers in the Orioles’ farm system, the 2019 season has come to an early end.

A team source confirmed Sunday that Hall, the club’s No. 3 prospect and No. 62 overall per MLB Pipeline, has been shut down with a left lat strain at Class A Frederick. Though the injury is considered mild and is only expected to sideline Hall for a few weeks, the Keys’ regular-season schedule ends September 2.

Hall remains a candidate to pitch in the Arizona Fall League if healthy enough. But that’s probably a big if given how tight a leash they’ve kept Hall on since selecting him 21st overall in 2017. The 20-year-old has totaled just 175 innings over his first two full professional seasons.

For now, the Orioles will continue to proceed cautiously with Hall, who spent this summer as one of the younger players in the Carolina League. That didn’t stop him from showing an already-elite ability to miss bats and avoid hard contact, Hall compiling a league-leading 116 strikeouts over 80 2/3 innings. Hall also held opposing hitters to just three home runs, good for a minuscule 0.3 HR/9 rate.

All told, Hall went 4-5 with a 3.46 ERA and 1.33 WHIP across 19 games (17 starts), though he did post a problematic 6.0 walk rate.

Hall last pitched Aug 8, throwing a career-high 99 pitches against Potomac before complaining of soreness after that start. He was placed on the Minor League injured list on Sunday.