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TopProspectAlert.com Minor League News & Autograph Blog HomeTop Prospect Alert - Bill Hall By Schuyler DombroskeDOB: 12/28/79, Age: 22, Height: 6’0’’,
Weight: 175, Bats: R, Throws: R. Acquired: Brewers - Drafted in the 6th
Round of the 1998 Draft (Nettleton HS, MS). 2001 Stats: (High-A - High
Desert) .303 AVG, 346 AB, 21 2B, 6 3B, 15 HR, 18 SB, 22 BB, 78 K, .345
OBP, .529 SLG; (AA - Huntsville) .256 AVG, 160 AB, 8 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 5 SB,
5 BB, 46 K, .279 OBP, .375 SLG. 2002 Stats: (AAA - Indianapolis) .258 AVG,
62 AB, 3 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 SB, 7 BB, 7 K, .343 OBP, .387 SLG.
In two years, Bill Hall
has gone from roughly #750 to the top-100 on the prospect charts. A little
more than 18 months ago, Hall was muddling through a Low-A campaign in
which he would hit 3 homers and possess a 1:7 BB/K ratio (18 BB, 127 K).
Now, he’s batting either leadoff or second in AAA, and he might be the
annual Jose Hernandez slump away from starting for the Brew Crew. Hall is
a “toolsy” type of player, showing above average power, speed, and range
afield. Hitting for average is probably not going to be Hall’s best
attribute, but as he showed in High Desert, he is capable of driving the
ball to the gaps. He did hit 18 homers last season between the two levels,
and I think the Brewers would be satisfied if he were able to maintain
that type of power and work on making more consistent contact (they
already have a record-setter for strikeouts at SS in the majors). So far
this season, Hall is hitting the ball with a bit less authority, but he
has more than doubled his walk rate. That is probably a tradeoff that the
Brewers can live with, especially in light of their problems atop the
major league batting order. Hall’s speed is another issue. He has top of
the order caliber speed, but his base stealing success rate is roughly 50%
for his career. He obviously needs to pick his spots a bit better. Perhaps
the organization kept on good terms with Davey Lopes when they fired him,
as Hall could certainly use a leadoff-hitting tutor, and I’m not sure that
EY is the man for the job, as likeable as he is. In the field, Hall’s
positives and negatives are also side by side. Hall has tremendous range,
decent hands, and a good arm, but his decision making is poor. He will get
to a ball that maybe 10% of shortstops can get to, and then proceed to
throw it into the third row of the stands. As he gets older, one would
assume that this issue will resolve itself: either he’ll stop getting to
the balls, or he’ll make better decisions. In total, Hall is
the typical athletic prospect: high risk, high reward.
The Brewers have a few
interesting young players, but very little system depth. None of the
interesting players play in the infield, so Bill Hall is free to progress
at his leisure. I would assume that they will leave him at AAA for most of
this year, but they’re going to be so bad that they may want to commit to
the youth movement sometime during the season. Unless Hall has a terrible
season, I would expect him to be starting in Milwaukee sometime next
season. In keeping with the high risk, high reward motif, a good
comparison for Bill Hall is Miguel Tejada. Tejada has since bulked up,
increasing his power while reducing his range at short, and Hall could
follow that path or he could stay skinny. Either way, Hall could become
the best shortstop in the NL in 5 years, or he could wash out of baseball.
High risk, high reward.
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