AL DIVISION SERIES: RANGERS VS ORIOLES

October 8, 2023

DL Hall

Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Baltimore Orioles

Pregame 2 Press Conference

Q. I know you're close with Grayson, how much did you talk about this morning, getting to pitch in a postseason game together?

DL HALL: We talked about it a lot, obviously since the alt site in 2020 was kind of our first year together. So me, him and Gunnar and Adley, we all four talked about it a lot, just being here together, so it's super excising.

Q. Have you seen Grayson progress over the season?

DL HALL: Obviously tremendous, definitely. But it's nothing that I think myself or any of us didn't expect. We knew as soon as he found his rhythm that he was going to be fine. And I think he's just back to himself now.

Q. Do you think of yourself as a reliever now?

DL HALL: That's the position I'm in right now, so that's what I'm worrying about right now, so I guess so.

Q. I know the butterflies were extra when you made your Big League debut. Compare that to yesterday making your playoff debut especially at home with the crowd?

DL HALL: I think it's a little bit different. Debut you don't really know what to expect because you've never done if before. So I think having that experience of my debut definitely kind of helped me for yesterday to kind of turn it more into excitement rather than nervousness. I was more excited to get a chance to pitch.

Q. As well as you're throwing these last few weeks, how does it compare to when you were coming up as a highly ranked prospect. How has your pitching evolved over the last few years?

DL HALL: I think for a lot of young guys and guys who come up as pitchers, I think that it's kind of like putting a puzzle together, trying to put all the pieces together. And over the years I've kind of just tried to find all those missing parts, whether it be how to keep myself healthy on the field or whether it be mechanical things or things like that. So I think it's just you try to put it all together the best you can and continue to just make it better.

Q. How great was it become in the bullpen for a playoff game, knowing you might have to get up earlier than the regular season?

DL HALL: I think we just kind of treat it the same. I don't think we kind of think of it in any different way or any different situation. Just whenever the phone rings and they say my name I get going.

Q. How has this been this year for you and Grayson and Jordan and other young guys coming up to the ball club with Santander, Cedric, Austin Hays, the other with guys that have been here?

DL HALL: It's awesome. We spent some years in Spring Training with those guys. So it wasn't like completely new faces. So I think that's something we also have on our side is we've kind of been around those guys, whether it be on Spring Training or alt site for some of them. We've kind of all been around each other. We look up to them, they've been up here doing it longer than us. So we definitely can learn from them, but it's also a familiar face.

Q. How do you describe this year? Obviously roller coaster is one word, but for you personally, of all the things you've been through and sitting here in front us today, what has that been like?

DL HALL: It's a blessing, honestly. This year has been a wild ride for me personally, you know, hoping to break camp with the team, but not being physically ready. And then kind of scrambling to get myself back healthy and things like that in Triple-A, and then having to go to Florida and take another step back. And just really focus on getting my physical side to where it needed to be before I was ready to pitch again.

So I feel like it was just kind of kept knocking me a step further and further back. But I just tried to keep pushing through it, stay strong in my faith and kept working. I knew the plan would come together.

Q. You said, you guys are a pretty tight bunch. Was that more motivating to get back when you were making your various stops this year, seeing what was going on up here and wanting to get back with your friends?

DL HALL: Yeah, I think that made it obviously harder in the beginning when I wasn't here seeing how exciting it was and how good these guys were playing. And just to see us winning like that, it made it harder for me at first. But now that I was on the way back, it made it a little bit easier to keep working hard so that I could get up here and be a part of it.

Q. In your last nine innings, you've given up no earned runs, one walk, three hits, while striking out ten and a 68 percent ground ball percentage when the ball has been put in play. How have you been able to do that over the past three weeks?

DL HALL: For me, I think it was just kind of a similar situation with Grayson and other young guys. Just kind of like figuring it out, figuring out what works for you. And for me obviously with all the obstacles this year, it was just trying to figure out the quickest way back to being myself. So I think a big part of it was just finding myself again on the mound and just really competing.

Q. When you were in Florida, take me back, was this possibility of being on a playoff roster for this young team what drove you?

DL HALL: Yeah, I talked to our Minor League director, Matt Blood, I told him I think it was the best decision for me to go down there and get ready because I felt like I could either continue to kind of spin my wheels and try and rehab and play at the same time. Or I could come and go to Florida and get ready and where I needed to be and come be a part of the playoffs for this team.

And that was something that I told him from the very beginning. I want to be a part of it. I want to help this team win in the playoffs. I think that was in the back of my head every day, for sure.

Q. When you have a roster that is so close and so young, especially playing and competing the way you have, are you allowing yourself to think of the magnitude of the situation or focusing one game at a time?

DL HALL: Yeah, I think that that's one thing that has made this team so good this year, especially since I've been up here. And just always looking back to the Rays series, losing the first two, and then coming back and winning the last two in big situations.

I think what they've done well is take it one pitch at a time, one game at a time. And just reminding ourselves every day that we're playing the same game that we were playing three weeks ago. It's just later in the year. So I think if we just continue to do that and just remind ourselves we're just playing baseball we'll be all right.