Detroit Tigers Future Friday: 3 Prospects who made huge gains in 2018

Matt Hall

His big league career has gotten off to a rocky start, but when you look at the numbers he put up just to reach the big leagues this season than Hall’s 2018 looks considerably better.

Hall has performed well since he joined the Tigers system in 2015. He posted a 2.55 ERA and 8.9 K/9 across 23 starts in 2016. He made 24 starts in 2017, with a 2.60 ERA and a much improved 9.7 K/9.

While it seems tough to improve on that, Hall did exactly that in 2018. He began the year at Double-A, where the Tigers experimented with him as a reliever. He posted an incredible 1.58 ERA and a 12.00 K/9 in 57 innings. That earned him a call up to Triple-A Toledo, where he rejoined the rotation. In ten starts he posted a 4-0 record with a 2.67 ERA and a 9.26 K/9. His 3.14 BB/9 was particularly solid, giving him a career-high K/BB ratio.

Hall parlayed his excellent minor league performance into his first big league call up. He’s thrown 6.2 innings out of the bullpen, but has not found any success. He’s surrendered 17 hits and 12 earned runs, with just four strikeouts and three walks.

While it has been a disappointing start to his big league career, Hall’s tremendous season in the minor leagues will keep him in the picture for a rotation spot next season. He has only made ten starts in Toledo however, so expect him to start the season out there to try to reclaim some of his mojo.

While there was a lot of growth across the board in the Detroit Tigers farm system, these three are names to keep an eye on as they look to continue their growth in 2019.