Sticking Points 2061.2: Joe Hall to the Rescue

[JimSlade]

Shortstop play, like so many other areas of play, has left something to be desired in Rockville. The last couple of seasons, despite Roberto Lopez' occasional flashes of shocking 2059 decency, had to be addressed. Lopez, a 2055 5th-round pick, showed some range coming through the Pikeman system, despite a habit of throwing the ball away. In 2060, his errors reduced from 25 to 21, but his range crashed. One cannot make an error on a ball one is not close to being able to field.

Going into the 2061 season, Lopez felt more and more like a placeholder, especially following GM Jim Slade's efforts at signing a shortstop who wasn't 72 years old and a pronouncement, when he swung and missed on a couple of guys on the market, that he would be willing to promote a good-fielding shortstop from the minors well ahead of schedule if need be. He held true to that pronouncement on May 26, when Joe Hall made his BBA debut against the Boise Spuds, the organization that traded him to Rockville along with Logan Hall and Lu-king Vein for Danny Leach in 2058. Hall's rescue call to the bigs took off with a 6-game hitting streak and improved defense over his predecessor.

"We're realistic: Joe is going to take his knocks," said Slade, after Hall's modest hitting streak came to an end in an 11-1 loss to the San Antonio Outlaws. "When we acquired him from Boise, we liked his versatility and maturity. We pushed him through our system, and he kept pace at each level, in whatever positions we had him play. This will be interesting."

In the field, Hall has held his own, committing 1 error in his 7 starts and being part of 5 double plays. His range, in this small sample size, has been solid. Pikeman manager Francisco Catazara likes what he's been seeing. "Joe is making the plays. I can't wait until we have the depth to take advantage of his versatility and move him around in infield and outfield, as he did coming through our system."

The Pikemen have gone 6-5 since Hall's arrival. This run of improved play hasn't elevated the team from the cellar, but the team is getting contributions from young players, like OFs Octavio Martinez and Joshua Ackland, 1B/DH Fida bin Kaseem, 3B/RF Muslih Abdul-Hasib, and C Celik Lufi. "Hopefully the power will start kicking in for our young players," said Catazara, while watching Kaseem take batting practice before a recent game against the Outlaws. "Our pitching staff," Catazara chuckled, "is built more for eking out 7-6 wins than shutting down opponents."

[RonCo]

It'll be interesting to see if Hall can stick the landing.

[BaseClogger]

Hall and Lopez are indistinguishable from a high level ratings perspective but one could be a low 5 contact and the other a high 5.

[JimSlade]

Hall is going to ride his recency bias for as long as it takes him. Eventually, I hope to land or develop a quality SS and have the luxury of making him a utility guy who I can shuffle between AAA and Rockville.

[Trebro]

Hall is going to ride his recency bias for as long as it takes him. Eventually, I hope to land or develop a quality SS and have the luxury of making him a utility guy who I can shuffle between AAA and Rockville.

If Hall was stronger in the field, you could probably live with the wRC+ of 36 (yikes), but he's just a ZR in the 1.6 range in about half a season of games. So probably a 3+ ZR, which isn't enough to make up for it IMO.