Detroit Tigers: Matt Hall to likely end up in Boston Red Sox starting rotation

Earlier this offseason, the Detroit Tigers traded Matt Hall to the Boston Red Sox after the signing of Iván Nova. They received a minor league catcher in return, and it now seems like Hall is going to make the rotation for the Red Sox after putting up lackluster numbers at the big league level in minimal attempts the last two seasons.

The Detroit Tigers went out and signed Iván Nova this offseason, who is as bad, if not worse, than Jordan Zimmermann, who was one of the worst pitchers last season. After signing Nova, the Tigers had to clear space on the 40-man roster, so they designated pitcher Matt Hall for assignment. They would ultimately work out a trade with the Boston Red Sox to send Hall to Boston for minor league catcher Jhon Nuñez.

The thing is, the statistics may be misleading, and the Red Sox may have just lucked out, getting a nice steal out of this trade for Hall. With the Tigers in 2019, Hall appeared in sixteen games, totaling 23.1 innings pitched. Over those sixteen outings, Hall would manage a 7.71 ERA, 1.84 WHIP, walking fifteen hitters, and punching out twenty-seven hitters.

With the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens in 2019, Hall pitched in twenty-five starts, making thirteen starts, totaling 86.2 innings pitched. Hall had a 5-4 record, with a 5.30 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, walking thirty-one hitters, and striking out 106 on the season. The Red Sox may have seen something the Tigers felt might slip through after designating Hall for assignment.

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The Red Sox brought in the left-handed pitcher, who is currently set to be the fifth starter in their rotation which will contain four arms if projections hold through Spring Training. After trading away David Price in one of the most confusing drawn-out trades in recent history, the Red Sox starting pitching depth has decreased immensely. The underlying factor that makes Hall a candidate for the big league starting rotation are his mechanics and great pitch design.

Though he possesses a smaller sample size in the big leagues then most, Hall is in the 62nd percentile in the league for fastball spin rate. More notably, he has a 96th percentile spin rate on his curveball compared to the rest of the league. Hall can use this to his advantage and rely on swings and misses to carry him as a starter with the Red Sox.

Essentially, it boils down to the fact that the Detroit Tigers opted to go with Nova instead of giving Hall the chance to start at the big league level in 2020. The team is going to trot out Nova and Zimmermann to start ballgames this summer and almost ensure that they let the opponent get out to a beautiful ten run lead.

The Detroit Tigers should have opted to give Hall a chance or signed a different starter on the market then Nova who’s numbers are absolutely terrible.