Perrotto: Can Pirates Get Something Out of Darick Hall or DJ Stewart?

A scout once told me many years ago that “if you’ve seen it once in a player you know it’s in there.”

For example, a player who hits a 450-foot home run may not do it frequently. However, he has shown that he can hit a ball that far and could do it again.

That’s why I am intrigued by Darick Hall and DJ Stewart, two non-roster invites to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ spring training camp in Bradenton, Fla. Both have a chance to open the season with the big-league club. First baseman Spencer Horwitz is questionable for opening day following thumb/wrist/hand surgery.

Hall and Stewart have shown they can hit for power at the major-league level. They just haven’t done it consistently.

In 2022, Hall made his major-league debut with the Philadelphia Phillies and hit nine home runs in 41 games with a .250/.282/.522 slash line. Granted, that is a small sample size.

I covered the Philadelphia Phillies that year for MLB.com when they visited Pittsburgh for a four-game series. That, too, was a small sample size.

However, I remember the Phillies people being impressed with the left-handed-hitting Hall and thinking he might have a big-league future, though not necessarily with them. Rhys Hoskins was the Phillies’ first baseman then and, of course, Bryce Harper was moved from right field to first base last year.

The Phillies are in the business of trying to win championships. They didn’t have the patience to develop someone who was a 16th-round draft pick in 2016 from Dallas Baptist, even though Hall also belted 28 home runs for Triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2022.

Hall’s power numbers dropped at Lehigh Valley over the last two seasons, partially because of hand injuries. He hit 18 homers in 2023 and 16 last year.

Yet, Hall casts an opposing figure at 6-foot-4, 250 pounds and his left-handed power stroke seems like a good fit at PNC Park.

Stewart is also a left-handed hitter with power and more of a track record in the big leagues than Hall. Stewart hit 12 home runs in 100 games for the Baltimore Orioles in 2021 and went deep 11 times in just 58 games for the New York Mets in 2023.

In seven seasons and 327 games in MLB, Stewart has batted just .213/.328/.401 with 42 homers and his line was .177/.325/.297 with five homers in 74 games for the Mets. He does have the pedigree of being a first-round pick of the Orioles in 2016 from Florida State.

I’m not suggesting that Hall or Stewart will suddenly become 30-home run hitters this season. And the Pirates don’t need that from either player.

Horwitz isn’t expected to miss a large portion of the season. The Pirates need someone to fill the first base void temporarily.

Could they get some short-term production from Hall or Stewart? Well, it’s in there.

Whether the Pirates can get it out remains to be seen.