What kind of players did the Brewers get in prospects DL Hall and Joey Ortiz?

Corbin Burnes is a Baltimore Oriole.

In the wake of the bombshell trade the Brewers agreed to Thursday night, sending their ace out east, many in Milwaukee are left trying to determine what, exactly, the Brewers have in DL Hall and Joey Ortiz, the prospects they got in return.

Both Hall and Ortiz figure to be mainstays on the mound and in the field for the Brewers for years to come. Both carry with them strong prospect pedigree and are generally well-known in the industry after being scouted as top prospects for a few years.

But how good might they be? What are the chances they pan out? Did the Brewers get enough for Burnes?

Only time will tell for certain. In the meantime, we pored over reports, watched video, looked at underlying data and spoke to a longtime highly regarded scout to determine what to expect from the newest Brewers.

DL Hall has major upside thanks to his arsenal

Those who follow prospects around baseball have long been familiar with Hall’s name. One of the most highly rated prep arms in the 2017 draft, Hall went to the Orioles with the 21st pick for a $3 million signing bonus.

Each year from 2019 through 2023, Hall was ranked in the top 100 prospects in the game by Baseball America, reaching as high at No. 47 in 2020. The reasoning for Hall’s consistent ranking is simple: his pure stuff is nasty.

Hall’s arsenal begins with his elite fastball, which averaged 95.6 mph during his major-league stint in 2023 and has sat at even firmer velocities throughout his minor-league career. That kind of velocity from the left side is enough by itself to excite scouts.

The fastball carried a 30.2% whiff rate across his 18 games with the Orioles in 2023 and opponents batted just .200 against it.

Add in the deception with which Hall works and the real chance for increased velocity to come and you see the makings of a top-tier pitch.

Hall works off the fastball primarily with a slider, his second-best pitch, that he uses mostly against lefties. Multiple scouts have graded it as a plus pitch, though it’s not quite on par with that of a similar player comp for Hall – Josh Hader.

Hall struggled to command it at times last year, and that command was a massive question mark raised by the scout.

Like many developing pitchers, Hall added a changeup later on in his development. The changeup is going to be critical in his ability to get righties out regardless of starting or relieving. Hall has shown flashes of it being a plus pitch with good life, but there is real concern with missing over the middle with flat changeups, the scout relayed.

Is DL Hall going to start?

The big question surrounding Hall is – similar to a different young Brewers lefthander almost a decade ago – is whether he will be a starter or reliever.

“I think if you’re guessing most likely outcome, it’s probably relief because he’s just never thrown enough strikes, but you can see why a team would try everything they can to make starting work,” the scout said.

Hall spent almost his entire minor-league career making starts but had success out of the bullpen down the stretch and into the postseason for Baltimore, sporting a 3.26 ERA while striking out 28% of batters.

Hall certainly has the repertoire to face lineups multiple times through, so the question is more a matter of how his command will play. He averaged 5.2 walks per nine innings in the minors – including 5.5 at Class AAA to go with a 13.3% walk rate in 2023 – but cut it to just 3.0 in relief while in the majors.

Hall’s command certainly isn’t a total lost cause at this point. His mechanics, particularly his arm path, have never been consistent, leading some to wonder if Milwaukee could shorten his arm motion and get better results.

Arnold said, for now, the Brewers aren’t committing to utilizing Hall in any specific role until they can discuss it further with him.

“Frankly, I want to talk to him a little bit about it. He’s been good in both roles,” Arnold said. “He’s been a starter in the minor leagues, and he was an outstanding reliever for the Orioles last year, in particular in the playoffs. And so we think he’s going to have success in either role. I’d like to spend a little more time talking to him. I welcomed him to the team earlier, and he was very excited to be here with us as well, and excited for the new challenge. I think whatever role he’s in, he’s going to be great for us.”

Brewers view Joey Ortiz as a Gold Glove defender. How well will he hit?

It’s no secret what Ortiz does well – really well. He is best known for his glove, which down the road could make him one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball. He stands 5 foot 9 and is very quick, which along with having natural instincts, gives him great range which he pairs with a strong arm.

Ortiz could figure into the Brewers plans at second or third base in 2024 assuming Willy Adames is not traded prior to opening day.

“He’s thrilled to play anywhere,” Arnold said. “This guy’s a gamer. Hard-nosed kid. A great defender. Gold Glove-caliber type is in our reports. We think he can play anywhere on the dirt, and he’s going to be good wherever he plays. That’s still to be determined I think throughout the course of spring training.”

Gold Glove defense isn’t just lip service from the Brewers. The scout labeled Ortiz as one of the safer prospects in the Orioles system because he is a true game-changer at second base while also possessing the ability to be a reliable starting shortstop.

“If the Brewers go Ortiz at third, Adames at short and Brice Turang at second, that’s the best infield defense in baseball even with Rhys Hoskins at first,” the scout said.

A fourth-round pick of the Orioles in 2019, Ortiz features a mixture of solid tools at the plate but none are eye-popping. He could very well wind up as a hitter who is greater than the sum of his parts – but only if his plate discipline is reined in.

Ortiz recently began trading some contact for power and still maintained above-average in-zone contact rates. His hard-hit rate of 46% last year across all levels would have been notably above MLB average of 39%, and it’s hard to fake in-game power, so the belief is that some of that should translate to the majors.

Now, Ortiz has shown a tendency to chase outside the zone, which will limit his upside.

Still, most scouts still view him as a fairly safe regular player for years to come.

What about that comp pick?

The Brewers also nabbed the 34th overall pick in the 2024 draft from the Orioles, something Arnold deemed important to coming to terms on the deal.

What could that lead to for Milwaukee?

At face value, to begin with, there are always prospects who turn out to become excellent big-league players available in that range. The Brewers have taken Tyler Black and Josh Knoth with nearly that exact same pick in recent years. In 2022, top 100 prospects Sal Stewart, Thomas Harrington, Dalton Rushing and Robby Snelling all went between picks 30 and 40.

The downside for the Brewers is that this year's draft class pales in comparison to last year's. Scouts say it features one of the sparsest pools of high school talent in a long time as well as being a below-average year for college pitching.

But what the 34th pick also brings with it for Milwaukee is more money in its draft bonus pool.

Here's how that, theoretically, could be utilized. The Brewers don't pick until 17th overall in this July's draft, but because the extra slot money attached to the 34th pick (around $2.5 million typically) gives them one of the largest overall pools of cash of any team, they're able to allocate it more liberally. Not only might that allow them to sign higher-end prep players that fall to later rounds due to signability concerns as they did in 2023, but they could even "buy" down a player projected to go in the top 10 by promising a significant overslot bonus at pick 17.

So while the added pick itself has plenty of value, there's also some hidden value in what the Brewers can do because of it.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Reports on Brewers new prospects DL Hall, Joey Ortiz