Huge Opportunity Emerges for Pirates Minor Leaguer
With first baseman Spencer Horwitz out for the foreseeable future due to a right wrist injury, the Pittsburgh Pirates plan on his temporary replacement coming from within the organization.
Among the favorites to win the job during spring training is Darick Hall, who signed a minor league deal with the club in December.
Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton was complementary of his skill set, pointing out his power in particular while committing to providing him plenty of opportunities to prove himself in the Grapefruit League.
"He's definitely going to be in the competition,” Shelton said, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Noah Hiles. “Big-body guy who has the ability to have good at-bats, has the ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark and has played in the big leagues before. I think we knew when we acquired him on an NRI that we like the bat. We have seen him hit. He drives the ball. He's going to get a good look during spring training."
Hall's professional career commenced when the Philadelphia Phillies selected him in the 14th round of the 2016 MLB Draft. After playing parts of six minor league campaigns, the team called him up for his big league debut in June 2022.
Over 42 games and 142 plate appearances that year, Hall hit .250/.282/.522 with nine home runs, 0.5 fWAR and a 121 wRC+. Despite his impressive performance, however, he did not earn a spot on the team's roster throughout the playoffs as the Phillies made it all the way to the World Series.
Hall cracked the Opening Day roster in 2023 while both Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins dealt with injuries, though his initial stay lasted just six contests as he was placed on the 60-day injured list himself after undergoing thumb surgery.
He returned to the majors on July 2 after completing his rehab, but he was sent back to Triple-A on July 21 and was not recalled for the remainder of the season. Hall ultimately finished with a .167/.196/.241 slash line across 56 trips to the plate.
In 2024, he spent the entire year with Lehigh Valley and batted an unremarkable .236/.320/.387 to go with 16 homers in 114 games.
Hall stated that there were still some positives to take away, with his struggles coming as a result of improperly spinning the ball.
“I hit a lot of balls hard last year, but a lot of balls had sidespin. I hit a lot of balls off the wall that just weren’t spun correctly. That happens when you have that slight pull-through — you just don’t spin the ball, which leads to low power numbers,” Hall said. “My exit velocity was really good, and my contact rate was good. I just didn’t have the numbers that I normally do, simply because the ball wasn’t spun correctly.”
With the belief that he's ironed out that issue, Hall is raring to go and plans on making an impact for a Pirates team that desperately needs an offensive boost.
“I think the goal is the same,” Hall said. “I’ve gotta prove to these guys who I am and what I can do. That was the goal to start anyways. I believe I’m a major league player. Just looking for an opportunity, whether it’s there or not. So, to me, the goal stays the same.”
