Quick check of some prospects in Norfolk

Left-hander DL Hall didn’t make it out of the bullpen yesterday at Triple-A Norfolk, if that’s where he sits when he isn’t scheduled to pitch.

He wasn’t on the lineup card. And he didn’t pitch.

The Orioles want Hall back in the majors as a power arm coming out of the bullpen. They’re shortening his outings and intend to do the same with his rest periods.

But not yet, apparently.

The minors shut down on Mondays except for the Florida Complex League, which went dark yesterday. Hall could get a few innings Tuesday night in Jacksonville.

Hall worked two innings on Thursday and allowed one run and one hit with three walks and four strikeouts. A mixture of what the organization loves about him and where they hope to find improvement.

The walks, ideally, would be in decline.

Then again, the strikeouts didn’t undergo a major reduction for outfielder Kyle Stowers and he’s with the Orioles.

“I’m a big proponent of DL Hall,” said former Orioles minor leaguer Ryan Ripken. “Arguably, you could say that DL might have the best overall stuff - his fastball, and being a lefty pitcher, and his off-speed pitches. The only difference between him and Grayson (Rodriguez) is Grayson’s so polished and is so in control and consistent. DL just has to be a little bit more refined, but man, he’s talented.”

Drew Rom, 22, made his Triple-A debut yesterday and didn’t allow a run for 4 2/3 innings. He stayed in the game after a mound visit with his pitch count at 93 and two runners on base following back-to-back walks, and Durham’s Josh Lowe singled to score Miles Mastrobuoni.

Zac Lowther stranded two runners.

The final line for Rom showed one run and four hits with four walks and nine strikeouts. He threw 95 pitches.

Rom, a fourth-round pick in 2018 out of Highlands High School in Kentucky, was 7-2 with a 4.37 ERA, 1.470 WHIP and 11.0 strikeouts per nine innings over his 19 appearances (18 starts) with Double-A Bowie.

The day began with Rom owning a career 24-8 record and 3.28 ERA in four minor league seasons. He averaged fewer than one home run surrendered, and none of the Bulls cleared the fence yesterday.

Rom also didn’t hit the mascot.

Gunnar Henderson made his second consecutive start at second base after playing first in back-to-back games.

Are you fired up?

Henderson went 1-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored. He also stole third base.

Stowers didn’t start Saturday because of Michael Wacha’s reverse splits, but he returned to the lineup last night and could stay in it for the three-game series against the White Sox that begins Tuesday, with the Orioles facing right-handers Dylan Cease, Lucas Giolito and Lance Lynn.

Minor league splits might not prompt a response, but Stowers batted .326/.430/.547 against left-handers this season, and .240/.329/.520 versus right-handers.

In 2021, Stowers slashed .290/.371/.516 against lefties while playing for Single-A Aberdeen, and .270/.413/.490 versus right-handers.

Stowers appeared in 66 games with Double-A Bowie last year and batted .296/.377/.685 against left-handers and .279/.377/.525 against right-handers.

Bad break for the Orioles with the White Sox rained out yesterday. Now they get Cease in the series at Camden Yards.

Cease is a Cy Young Award candidate. He’s made 24 starts and gone 12-5 with a 2.09 ERA, 1.167 WHIP and only 11 home runs surrendered in 133 2/3 innings. He’s averaging 12.0 strikeouts per nine innings, but also has walked 58 batters to lead the majors.

The Orioles faced Cease on June 26 in Chicago and he struck out 13 batters in seven innings. The only run came on Jonathan Arauz’s homer in the third.




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