{"id":95797,"date":"2025-02-16T22:24:37","date_gmt":"2025-02-17T03:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=95797"},"modified":"2025-02-16T22:24:37","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T03:24:37","slug":"pirates-darick-hall-mad-bomber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/02\/16\/pirates-darick-hall-mad-bomber\/","title":{"rendered":"Intriguing Pirates Spring Training Invitee Has Hit Some Bombs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Oakland Raiders quarterback Daryle Lamonica<\/a> was \u201cMad Bomber,\u201d but he had nothing on Darick Hall<\/a> of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Hall, 29, is in spring training with Pittsburgh, who signed him to a minor league deal last December. It wasn\u2019t a sexy transaction that was deemed worthy of reporting here. After all, the left-handed-hitting first baseman spent seven full seasons and parts of two others in the minor leagues in the Philadelphia Phillies system. In the minors, he produced a stat line of .254\/.340\/.473, 160 HR, and 561 RBI across all levels.<\/p>\n

The Phillies called Hall up to the big time in 2022 and he responded by posting a respectable .250\/.282\/.522, 9 HR, and 16 RBI in 41 games. A second big league trial the following year wasn\u2019t as kind. Limited to 18 games by a wrist injury, he went just 9-for-54 with a homer. He spent 2024 with the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs. It was his fourth season there.<\/p>\n

Darick Hall: The New Mad Bomber?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Darick Hall was thought to be a mere organizational depth acquisition for the Pirates. Now, ironically, after losing his Phillies career because of a wrist injury, this latest opportunity comes courtesy of a wrist injury. With Spencer Horwitz<\/a> out for two months, give or take, Hall is suddenly thrown into the first base mix. Manager Derek Shelton<\/a> said as much to an assembly of local beat reporters last week:<\/p>\n

“He’s definitely going to be in the competition. Big-body guy [six-feet-four, 232 pounds] who has the ability to have good at-bats, has the ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark and has played in the big leagues before. I think we knew when we acquired him on an NRI [non-roster invitation] that we like the bat. We have seen him hit. He drives the ball. He’s going to get a good look during spring training.”<\/p>\n

Then, after our story about Horwitz\u2019s injury<\/a> was published and shared on Facebook, came this scouting report (lightly edited to keep our Grammarly software happy) from Lisa Nehila-Mondzak, who works for the IronPigs and knows her Pittsburgh geography:<\/p>\n

\u201cFan favorite with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Nickname \u2018Long Ball Hall.\u2019 Witnessed him hit some of the longest home runs out of Coca-Cola Park [the IronPigs home ballpark]. Holds the franchise record for the most home runs. Athletic first baseman and all-around great guy. Definitely could put some in the Allegheny.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Non-roster invite Darick Hall working on going the other way during BP pic.twitter.com\/4NVI5FlZyD<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Andrew Destin (@AndrewDestin1) February 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n