Hall's 1st home start a hopeful sign for Crew's evolving rotation

MILWAUKEE -- In the seventh game of the Brewers’ season, a 5-3 loss to the Mariners on Saturday at American Family Field, DL Hall became Milwaukee’s first starting pitcher not named Freddy Peralta to throw a pitch past the fifth inning.

If you want a starting rotation populated by five pitchers who make 35 starts and top 200 innings, the 2024 Brewers might not be your team. Peralta is capable of those numbers, but the rest of the group is beginning as a patchwork, from Colin Rea looking to establish himself over a full MLB season to Joe Ross and Aaron Ashby starting big league games for the first time in two years to Wade Miley and Jakob Junis battling “scratchy” shoulders to young, high-ceiling arms like Hall looking to gain a foothold.

The result in the short term is what manager Pat Murphy calls a “work in progress.” A 5-2 record reflects some success. But it’s also a test of depth. By the end of the second full week of regular-season baseball, the Brewers will have already employed seven different starting pitchers, mostly in abbreviated outings. And you can expect that group to grow.

“I think it’s just early-season stuff,” said Milwaukee pitching coach Chris Hook. “We’ll lengthen out as we get going. It’s letting these guys get their feet on the ground. It’s a great opportunity for somebody to step up.

“Those are the good things about this game. We get a bunch of new guys and throw them in a role they haven’t been in before and give them an opportunity to do it, and see if they take it.”

This year, swingmen Bryan Hudson and Bryse Wilson have chances to make starts if needed, and the Brewers also have prospects Jacob Misiorowski, Robert Gasser and Carlos F. Rodriguez eager to join the likes of Hall, the 25-year-old left-hander acquired in the January trade that sent Corbin Burnes to Baltimore. Hall has a premium arm, though it’s clear through two starts that he is working into his first season in a big league rotation. Last year in the Orioles’ bullpen, his fastball averaged 95.6 mph. Through two Brewers starts, he’s thrown only one pitch north of 94 mph.

The Mariners spoiled Hall’s home debut with Bryce Miller’s scoreless, seven-inning start -- Jackson Choruio’s second Major League home run, a two-run shot, came in the eighth after Seattle tapped its bullpen -- and with a three-run third inning rally. It was filled with five singles, mostly of the well-placed variety. Samad Taylor’s bunt single got it started and J.P. Crawford’s bloop kept it going. Julio Rodríguez bounced a single through the middle for one run and Mitch Garver hit one off third baseman Oliver Dunn’s glove for another run.

It was that kind of inning for Hall, who expended 25 of his 90 total pitches over 5 1/3 innings to get those three outs.

“It was definitely frustrating,” Hall said. “It’s like, sometimes you would almost rather guys get barrel off of you so you feel like they earned it.”

Getting to a sixth inning and reaching the 90-pitch plateau, Hall said, was “huge.”

Hook, meanwhile, is learning the right buttons to push for Hall and all of the new pitchers in a remade rotation. Coming to the Major League staff from the Brewers’ Minor League system, he has long histories with Burnes, Peralta and Brandon Woodruff. This year has brought significant change to the rotation, from veterans with established routines to young players like Hall who are learning their way.

“Part of it is getting to know him well enough to say the right things to move him forward,” Hook said before the game. “That’s the stage we’re in. What do they need? How do they structure their days? It will get better as we go.”

What does Hall like to hear from his pitching coach?

“Definitely tough love,” he said. “I think I respond better to being hit in the mouth than getting a hug.”

Eventually, both sides will speak the same baseball language.

“It’s still pretty fresh. It’s been, what, two months?” Hall said. “I like ‘Hooky’ a lot and he’s already made tremendous strides with me to help my pitchability. He’s very hands on and knows how to work with guys. The proof is in the pudding [with Hook’s work alongside Burnes, Woodruff and Peralta].

“It’s a good feeling to know you’re working with somebody who’s produced. But it’s a process. We’re learning from each other.”