Nobody expected much from Darick Hall, but his bat kept the Philadelphia Phillies afloat in July and August.
Anyone who claims they were anticipating the Darick Hall breakout season is lying.
By the end of 2021, he was a 26-year-old career minor leaguer slashing below league-average at first base in Triple-A, not exactly a recipe for a Major League call-up.
That season, he had an OPS of .741 with 14 home runs over 121 games. It was his lowest full-season OPS at any level for a full season in his professional career, but Hall had been down and out before.
Going into the 2016 season he was a starting pitcher at Dallas Baptist University, and when that didn't work out, Hall became a full-time slugger.
The 26-year-old erupted for an .872 OPS in 2022 spring training to put himself on that map, then continued that pace through June before Bryce Harper's injury.
Slashing .269/.346/.548 with 20 homers over his first 315 Triple-A plate appearances, Hall was the only man for the Philadelphia Phillies to call when Harper went down with a broken finger in late June.
The adjustment time was nil, as Hall hit three homers in his first three games.
Reminiscent of Rhys Hoskins' 2017 entrance to the big leagues, pitchers couldn't get anything slow past Hall, who continued to mash not just homers, but base hits as well.
By Aug. 7, after nearly a full month and a half in the Majors, Hall had eight home runs in 109 plate appearances, slashing .282/.321/.612. It was his high water mark, as Harper would soon return and force him back to Triple-A.
Over his final 33 plate appearances, Hall had a meager OPS of just .394. Though much of that decline can be attributed to inconsistent playing time and the lack of consistency going from MLB to Triple-A and back to MLB.
Unfortunately, Hall never got a chance to play in the postseason, he was left on the reserve roster for all four series in place of the more versatile Nick Maton and Dalton Guthrie.
Final Grade: A-
The expectations for Hall were nothing. But he provided a spark to the lineup when the team needed it most during Harper's absence. Without his bat, the Phillies might not have kept themselves afloat during the dog days of summer.
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