Orioles prospect Adam Hall left Bermuda for Canada to hopefully dominate the United States

Mark Suleymanov

Orioles prospect Adam Hall left Bermuda for Canada to hopefully dominate the United States image

NEW YORK - Adam Hall beat the odds to become the first native of Bermuda to become a professional baseball player in the United States, but needed to detour through Canada first before achieving his goal.

Hall describes Bermuda’s baseball scene as one league with “three or four teams." As the chance to improve against stronger competition waned, Hall’s Canadian roots --his father Tyler is a native of Woodstock, Ont. -- opened the door to another option.

At age 12, Hall convinced his parents to let him move to London, Ont. to pursue his dream and play with the Badgers, a youth team that produced three major leaguers and countless other professional players, and eventually attended high school in Ontario, as well.

“They were pretty supportive of it,” Hall said of his parents in an interview with Sporting News before the Aberdeen Ironbirds played the Brooklyn Cyclones at MCU Park in early July. “The plan was to move [to Canada] for high school, play in the summer there and do what you can in the offseason in Bermuda. I persisted and forced it.”

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In London, Hall moved in with Badgers assistant coach Ken Frohwerk, whose son was also on the team. He lived with Frohwek's family for over three years as he burnished a reputation as a can't-miss prospect.

Hall’s progression continued with Great Lakes Canadians, a program started by former MLB outfielder and London, Ont. native Adam Stern. Under the tutelage of Stern and fellow former big leaguers Chris Robinson and Jamie Romak, Hall fulfilled his goal of making the Canadian Junior National Team, earning a spot at 15 years old, an honor that usually falls to players in the 16-18 age range.

“I think it’s a matter of a never settle attitude,” Hall said. “With the junior national team, we played against extended spring teams, instructional league teams down in Florida. I got to see the competition that was out there and it was all about matching that competition and get above it at some point.”

Scouting reports of Hall’s ability praised his speed, defensive skills and potential with the bat. He was also pegged early on as a potential high draft pick.

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Just weeks before the 2017 MLB Draft, Hall turned 18 years old and committed to Texas A&M. If his placement in the draft dictated his next decision, the Baltimore Orioles made it an easy choice. Hall was taken in the second round (60th overall) and then signed for $1.3 million.

“With the money I got, it’s pretty life-changing,” Hall said. “It’s pretty hard to turn that down and I felt as though with the advice I’ve gotten from my coaches and the fact that I’ve been away from home, I know how to deal with that. I didn’t have to go to college to experience that.”

Jump to the pros

Hall got off to a strong start with the Gulf Coast League Orioles, going 6-for-9 in two games before an oblique injury ended his first professional season. Aside from a torn meniscus in grade 10, Hall said injuries have not impacted him on the field.

“It was tough,” Hall said. “I had to wait three weeks for my visa to come in and then I finally played two games and got hurt. But it’s good to have that experience in your back pocket and know how to work through that.”

This season, Hall started with the Aberdeen Ironbirds of the New York-Penn League. Through his first 18 games, Hall is slashing just .200/.278/.229 without a home run and just two runs batted in.

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“Mentally, when you have a kid who is young, [who came] from high school, who is from Canada, he’s never failed,” Ironbirds manager Kyle Moore said to Sporting News. “Baseball has never been hard for him. You run him out here against a bunch of college kids and pro kids throwing 95 mph, he’s going to fail.

“With that offensive potential in the back of my mind, when his mental game gets really good, when he learns how to fail and keep a smile on his face, and when he learns how to grind out five at-bats and not dwell on what happened in his last at-bat or put too much emotion in an at-bat, his offensive production could be on a high level.”

Ironbirds' hitting coach Tim Raines Jr., the son of soon-to-be Hall of Famer Tim Raines, said his first impression of Hall superseded a scouting report. Hall is currently ranked by MLB.com as the Orioles' 16th best prospect, praised for his ceiling and potentially breaking a rut when it comes to productive infielders coming from Canada.

“I see a kid that has some pop and he flies,” Raines told Sporting News. “For me, I didn’t realize he was a fast as he is. He plays shortstop so free and easy. I think of a guy like Rafael Furcal, from when I was coming up.”

Everything matters

Hall proved himself as a capable asset in various amateur leagues before he reached the professional ranks. He conquered Bermuda’s limited baseball environment; he moved to a different country where defied all age norms and caught the attention of former MLB players; and he traveled the world as a teenager proving himself against established competition.

As a professional, Hall’s current manager feels the shortstop needs to dedicate every part of his life to improving himself on the field.

“The number one way to go about that is that every part of his day matters,” Moore said. “We’re not just evaluating him and talking what he does at 7 p.m. in his first at-bat. As soon as he gets out of bed, everything matters.  What he eats matters, his work matters, what he does in early work matters, the way he carries himself matters. And if he will invest all of his energy in that whole process, everything from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. [in a game] will take care of itself.”

On a humid Thursday night in Brooklyn, Hall singled in his first at-bat of the night in the top of the first inning. In the bottom half, Hall booted a routine groundball at shortstop, resulting in an error. That is the type of inconsistency expected of a young player, even one touted as a skilled defender with burgeoning offensive potential.

At this juncture, Hall does not have to convince his family to move anywhere nor does he need the financial motivation of securing a guaranteed contract. Hall admits he is pressing at the plate but once he breaks out of his slump, his coaches believe he impacts the game in any number of ways.

“I think he can create a lot of havoc on the field,” Raines said.

Mark Suleymanov