Skip to main content

Patreon Exclusive: First base prospect Darick Hall Interview

I invite you to visit Patreon.com/PhoulBallz in order to support my work and get access to exclusive material like this as well as early access to all my other content.

Darick Hall, image- Jay Floyd
This week I talked with Phillies first base prospect Darick Hall about his down time due to the cancelled minor league season.  

In 132 games with Double-A Reading last year, the lefty batting slugger notched a .235 average with an Eastern League leading 38 doubles, a triple, 20 home runs (2nd in the league) and 67 RBI. 

This year, the 25-year-old spent time with the big league club in spring training where he saw action in 14 Grapefruit League games.

Hall, who was the Phillies' 14th round draft selection 2016, offered his thoughts on being left off of the team's player pool roster, how he's staying in shape, what he's doing with his free time and more.  Read ahead for a sample of that interview.

- I'd have to feel like the team would have had to give some consideration to including you in the taxi squad group. Did you hear anything about that & were you disappointed in not making that cut? 

I know I was in the talks but I was disappointed I was not selected. I was told to stay ready for the duration of the time and be ready for a call. 

- How beneficial was your time around the big club during spring training? Was there anyone you picked up a lot from? 

It was awesome to see the environment and how the veterans go about their business. I really enjoyed watching the work ethic of Neil Walker and Didi Gregorius. They work hard and have a great time doing it. Definitely was something that was fun to watch. 

Head on over to Patreon for the complete version of this interview.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

PhoulBallz Interview: Reading second baseman Jesmuel Valentin

Jesmuel Valentin, image- Jay Floyd Switch-hitting infielder Jesmuel Valentin has been a bit of an underrated contributor with the Double-A Reading Fightins. Heading into action on Friday, Valentin was batting .339 over his last 14 games. Overall this season, the 22-year-old is batting .282 with four home runs and 35 RBI in 64 games. Valentin, who plays mostly second base, but dabbles at shortstop a bit also, is the son of former big leaguer Jose Valentin . The Puerto Rico native was a supplementary round pick (51st overall) of the Dodgers in 2012. He was acquired by the Phils as part of the Roberto Hernandez trade in 2014. Recently, I spoke with Jesmuel about his team's success, growing up around the game and more. Read ahead for that full interview. -The Reading team has been great and you've contributed very nicely to the club's success. What are your thoughts on competition in the Eastern League this year? I just came here with the mindset that...

Q&A with Justin De Fratus

Justin De Fratus is a 21 year old right handed relief pitcher with the Lakewood BlueClaws. An 11th round draft choice in 2007, Justin had been a starter in his first two seasons in the Phillies organization. Informed this spring that he'd be switched from the rotation to the bullpen, Justin has excelled and become one of the most reliable pitchers on the Lakewood staff. In 19 games this season, Justin is 2-0, with a 1.83 ERA and 0.89 WHIP over 39 1/3 innings pitched. PhoulBallz.com spoke with Justin De Fratus just last night. Here's how that went down... Justin, South Atlantic League all star selections were announced this week, and you were named to the team. Can I get your reaction to that? How excited were you? Very excited about it. Well, especially this year because I just got moved to the bullpen, so this is a new role for me. So, if anything, it's reassuring that I'm doing my job. It's the first time in my pro career that I've been selected as an all star...

Catching prospect O'Hoppe tabbed to join Phillies

Logan O'Hoppe, image- Jay Floyd Please consider supporting my work and via my Patreon page .  For a small monthly fee, your patronage will get you exclusive interviews and other prospect related material as well as early access to all of my other content such as this feature.  Thank you.   On Friday, the Phillies added a pair of catchers to their 2020 player pool.  Minor leaguers Logan O'Hoppe (pronounced Oh-HOP-ee) and Henri Lartigue arrived in Philadelphia to help catch bullpen sessions for the team's collection of approximately 30 pitchers. The call to O'Hoppe was extremely welcome as the 20-year-old had been staying as active as he possibly could, working out with other players that have been been waiting out quarantine due to the current pandemic at his home on Long Island.  However, he had been very eager to step back onto an actual baseball field. "I just hope I can play soon.  Where ever that is or whatever form that is, that'd be aw...