The prep pitcher theme continues at number 18 with right-hander Owen Hall. At least the now 20-year-old Hall got on the mound last spring for a few games before going down with a stress reaction in his right shoulder. Considering how things have gone with their prep pitchers from the draft, the Tigers didn’t hesitate to shut him down and put him through an extended rehab program and then strength and conditioning to get him better prepared for full season ball in 2026. He’s throwing in camp this spring, and plenty of eyes will be on his progress this season.
Hall was the Tigers second round pick in the 2024 draft out of Edmond North HS in Oklahoma. The right-hander impressed on the summer circuit between his junior and senior years, where he was topping out at 96-97 mph already. He then put together a monster campaign featuring 75 strikeouts to just 13 walks, and a 1.65 ERA as a senior. He was a featured starter in the All-American All-Star game during All-Star week that summer.The Tigers paid him $1.75 million as the 10th pick in the second round to pass on his commitment to Vanderbilt.
He didn’t pitch after the draft, which is standard procedure for the Tigers, particularly with high schoolers. However, in the leadup to spring camp in 2025 videos from his training at the Pitching WRX facility in Oklahoma City, where Hall trained with Jackson Jobe, emerged showing really outstanding metrics on his stuff and velocity up to 98 mph with pretty good extension, spin, and movement on his fastball and slider. There was plenty of excitement in camp as he neared his pro debut. Unfortunately, his shoulder started barking pretty quickly and the Tigers shut him down for the year after only four short starts for the Single-A Lakeland Flying Tigers.
Hall stands 6’3” with a lean build and long levers. He’d clearly added some muscle in his first offseason as a professional and presumably is already bigger than his listed 185 pounds. Apart from the raw stuff on display, Hall’s repeatable delivery and good extension down the mound all projected well for his development. He has a pretty long arm stroke, but is able to keep his release point relatively low despite his vertical forearm position into release, in part because he gets down the mound well and really sinks into his left leg. As he builds those legs up, his ability to resist and generate more of his velo from his legs will improve. The relatively low release helps the riding action on the fourseamer play up, and his ability to stay behind it helps him spin the heck out of it. At its best Hall has a really explosive fastball that gets on hitters quickly even when sitting 93-94 mph, as he did in his brief Lakeland work.
He did top out at 96.2 mph with the Flying Tigers while showcasing the whopping spin rates, posting numerous fourseamers over 2500 rpms. His IVB numbers sat between 17-18 inches of ride, and he also showed himself capable of mixing in a sinker with a lot more run to jam right-handed hitters. It was only a brief look at him, but the ability to use both with advanced command for his age was a very positive sign prior to the shoulder trouble. He also showcased his mid-80’s slider, which features nasty two-plane break and should be a plus pitch for him. Hall also had a pretty advanced changeup in high school with a lot of late movement, though he still needed to work to kill some velocity on it without giving the game away. Unfortunately, he didn’t get to pitch enough to give us many looks at that pitch with the Flying Tigers.
Hall is reportedly throwing in camp, so for now at least, the Tigers have gotten him through the shoulder issues through their caution. Reports from camp say they’ve managed to build him up in the gym in the interim. Of all the prep pitchers they’ve drafted, Hall remains the most exciting of the bunch and the one who already has the makings of a starter’s arsenal and delivery. The Tigers will still want to be fairly careful with his workload in what will be his first full pro season, knock on wood, but with a fair amount of work under his belt over the last two offseasons, he’s one to keep a close eye on and probably the most likely to break out in 2026.
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