PHOENIX -- DL Hall is exactly where he wants to be: in a starting rotation, fully charged.
¡°It¡¯s an unbelievable feeling,¡± Hall said.
Deep breath.
¡°It¡¯s hard to put into words,¡± he continued. ¡°It¡¯s something that you work toward. It¡¯s another one of those goals that you always dream of achieving, being on an Opening Day roster. I¡¯m unbelievably thankful for that. To get this opportunity is a blessing.
¡°Now it¡¯s just a matter of what I do with the opportunity.¡±
The left-hander will bring more than a four-pitch mix into his first regular season start, as he¡¯s lined up to make the Brewers¡¯ second start in their season-opening three-game series against the Mets. He also brings an emotional component to the task at hand.
¡°I act a little crazy on the mound,¡± Hall said late in Spring Training, ¡°just trying to put myself in the right state of mind. If I don¡¯t get into that zone, it can be a bad day.
¡°I¡¯m super aggressive, super competitive. I don¡¯t mean to showboat or anything, but if I¡¯m not in that mental state it¡¯s hard for me to lock in and get going. So you¡¯ll definitely see a lot of it.¡±
Hall, acquired from Baltimore in the Corbin Burnes trade over the offseason, was used out of the bullpen in 28 of his 29 appearances for the Orioles the past two seasons, and pitching in relief sharpened his belief in hitting the mound hot.
¡°It¡¯s something that I¡¯ve always felt, and I kind of lost it being a starter,¡± he said. ¡°Getting a little soft as a starter, trying to think of that sixth, seventh, eighth inning. And then you are being too passive early in the game.
¡°For me, it is like locking into that from pitch No. 1. Pitching out of the bullpen really helped me with that aggressive mindset. Bringing that back to starting is a key for me, to stay aggressive and stay locked in.¡±
Hall made his final Spring Training start in the Brewers¡¯ 14-4 win over Arizona on Sunday, giving up two runs in the second inning -- one scoring on a dropped throw that wasn¡¯t ruled an error -- before retiring the final 11 men he faced. He gave up five hits, struck out four and did not walk a batter.
¡°For the last one, it was great,¡± Hall said. ¡°To come back after the second inning and dial it in a little bit. They were jumping on the fastball again, I think that is kind of a common theme. But once I started landing the breaking ball I had a lot of success with it. I got to finish five [innings]. Happy."
Hall once again worked on finding spots to use a curveball to complement his slider, his primary breaking ball. Hall struck out Jake McCarthy on a 79 mph curve in the second inning, one of his three left-on-left strikeouts. He caught Jackson Feltner looking at another curve to end the fourth inning.
¡°That¡¯s kind of a big thing for me, learning how to use those two off of each other and not really limiting myself to curveballs to righties and sliders to lefties,¡± Hall said. ¡°Trying to use both of those to opposite-handed hitters is something I am really working on.
¡°To have that [curveball], it is definitely nice to add another weapon to the arsenal. Just getting comfortable throwing all these things, so when it is crunch time I have weapons during the season.¡±
A starter in the Orioles¡¯ system after being a first-round pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, Hall experienced back issues last season that limited him to 65 2/3 innings between two Minor League stops and the big leagues. Building up to return to starting has not been an issue.
¡°I definitely expected it to be pretty hard, but I¡¯m actually feeling pretty good,¡± Hall said. ¡°I just want to go out there every day and compete. I want to be available every fifth day and let the rest take care of itself."
Hall¡¯s ability to adapt and refine his repertoire this spring has fared well with Brewers manager Pat Murphy.
¡°As you become a starting pitcher, your change of speeds becomes important, especially that second and third time around,¡± Murphy said. ¡°He¡¯s realizing that he's not just fastball-slider, and he has to be more complete and believe a little bit more in the other pitches.¡±
Hall projects as a big part of the Brewers¡¯ future, Murphy said, adding that it would be unfair to expect too much too soon.
¡°This kid has a chance to be in the top end of the rotation for a long time,¡± Murphy said. ¡°I believe in this kid, I really do. He is super talented. But pitching is like playing good music. You have unbelievable spots here and there, but the total show isn¡¯t complete until you have years and years of experience.
¡°I think this is going to be a process with DL. He'll show flashes of greatness but we can¡¯t expect him to go out and just dominate. That¡¯s not practical right now.¡±