Nathan Hall’s path to the Arizona Fall League has already been anything but ordinary.
The D-backs’ fifth-round pick in the 2025 Draft out of South Carolina was getting ready to take the field at the club’s complex when he uncorked a throw from the outfield and felt pain in his right elbow. The diagnosis was a torn UCL, and Tommy John surgery followed.
Add in a pair of hamstring injuries, and Hall spent just over a year away from game action before finally making his pro debut for Single-A Visalia on Aug. 18.
That debut came with a small sample size - 44 plate appearances across 11 games - but Hall had already shown enough in college to make the organization want a longer look. He hit .333 in the wood-bat Cape Cod League and followed that with a .322 average in his junior season at South Carolina. Hall also had a sense the calendar might line up in his favor, and once he reached the California League, the Fall League opportunity came quickly.
“The main thing is: baseball is a fun game. But it's not fun in rehab,” Hall said. “I'm really grateful for the fact that it did help me find a routine that helps me physically get in a good position to play, and it honestly helped build a lot of confidence too.
“To be able to have an organization that wants me to come out and get more reps and get better is very encouraging, so I'm blessed with that.”
His time with Salt River brought mixed results at the plate, but plenty to like underneath the surface. Hall hit .176 in 12 regular-season games, yet he reached base at a .429 clip thanks to 14 walks against just nine strikeouts.
He also swiped seven bags in eight tries. The Fall League has been about sharpening his plate discipline, but it has also been about staying healthy, and he was held out because of hamstring tightness as a precaution.
Chris Slivka, the D-backs’ farm director, pointed to the progress Hall has made since turning pro.
“He's done a really good job of improving his contact quality since coming into pro ball, even though he's had limited reps,” Slivka said of Hall. “I think it's a testament to the work that he did when he was coming back from those injuries, because the swing quality and contact quality are much better than they were in college.”
Hall’s college route was unusual even before the injuries. He weighed going pro out of South Carolina prep ranks in 2022, but chose Clemson instead, where he was first recruited by former head coach Monte Lee. He spent two seasons with the Tigers, then saw his role shrink in 2024 after Lee left the program and later returned to South Carolina as associate head coach.
“Put the emotional aspect to the side, I’m gonna have to tune that out,” Hall said. “It’s not really about Clemson - ‘Those guys, I'm gonna show them’ - it just happened to be the best opportunity. But it also happened to be probably the biggest rivalry in the country.”
Playing for both Clemson and South Carolina gave Hall a chance to face high-level competition before his pro career began, and he believes that helped prepare him for the next step.
“You have no choice but to find ways to make yourself confident before you face those guys to be successful,” Hall said. “I think it was more about me having faith in myself and knowing, ‘I've been successful against high-quality arms, I can do it [in pro ball].’ I know looking back, I've had success, I'm gonna be fine - just continue to put my head down and work.”
The long layoff meant nearly a year and a half without in-game reps, but Hall’s early work in Visalia suggested the time in the SEC served him well. He posted a .357/.386/.643 line with three homers there, and with his above-average bat speed, improved contact quality and the confidence he’s built along the way, he looks positioned for 2027 and beyond.
“He has some real skills, some real carrying tools,” said Scott Nestor, Salt River’s hitting coach who serves in a similar capacity in the Yankees’ system. “I think he’s a good bat-to-ball guy, has really good plate discipline, shows some maturity at the plate, and then obviously has some wheels too.
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