This story was excerpted from Jason Beck’s Tigers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CLEVELAND – Owen Hall's pitch arsenal sounds like a menu of offerings from a seven-year veteran, not from an 18-year-old fresh out of high school.

“I think my favorite pitch, the pitch that I think is most successful, is my fastball,” Hall explained. “I probably sit around 95-96 [mph]. I’ve been up to 98 with it, and it has a lot of vertical movement so it looks like it’s rising to the hitter, and that’s super helpful to me. I’m able to throw it early in counts, late in counts. It’s definitely a pitch that we’ve worked really hard on in the past, and it has become a good pitch for me.

“Next, I'd probably go to my changeup. It’s a split-grip changeup, so that’s been beneficial for me. It’s one of those pitches where I have to keep throwing it so I can get more comfortable with it. Whenever I throw it well, it’s really successful for me, but I just have to continue to work on being more consistent with it and having enough confidence to throw it a lot in games.

“Next I have what I call a gyro slider. It’s one of those super big sweeping sliders that I have. It’s more of an up-and-down slider, if that makes sense. After the season, I think we’ve made some really big strides on it. It’s a really good strike pitch. I feel super confident throwing it recently. That’s a pitch that I’m super excited to work on more and create more consistency with it.

“And then last, I throw a cutter. Like my fastball, it’s something I can throw a ton of strikes with. It’s something I can throw early in counts, late in counts, just because I feel super confident with the amount of strikes I can throw with it and where I can place the pitch.”

One pitch not mentioned there is a curveball. But Hall arguably threw one Monday with his decision to forgo a college commitment to Vanderbilt and turn pro with the Tigers, who selected him in the second round (49th overall) of the 2024 Draft.

Hall signed for a $1,750,000 bonus, just below the $1,893,700 slot value. But to hear him discuss weighing his decision to bypass Vandy’s pitching factory for the Tigers’ pitching development group, it’s about more than money.

Hall worked out for the Tigers in June at Comerica Park, traveling to Detroit with his dad. After meeting the front office and support staff, Hall – who said he has come around to pitch design and technology’s role in it – was sold on their ideas.

“You could just see from the start their attention to detail,” Hall said on a Monday afternoon call with reporters. “All their attention focusing towards the small things, it really kind of puts them on another level compared to other ballclubs or other opportunities. And I think that’s really what made them stand out to me in the first place.”

Hall also had some examples close to home. For starters, he’s from Edmond, Okla., the same hometown as former Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer, who works out at the same facility as Hall in the offseason. More impressive, he worked out last offseason with Tigers top pitching prospect and fellow Oklahoma native Jackson Jobe, who visited with him the day after Hall was drafted.

“Just to see the kind of progress he’s made and see where he’s at right now, he owes some of the credit also to the Tigers,” Hall said of Jobe, who threw six innings as part of a combined no-hitter Saturday for Double-A Erie. “Hearing him talk about how great the organization is in a positive manner, that was super encouraging to hear. He had nothing but good things to say about the organization.”

Hall is also looking to add muscle to his frame to help his game, something Jobe did last year while rehabbing from a back injury. The Tigers would love for Hall to follow Jobe’s path up the system.