Nathan Hall was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fifth round of the 2025 MLB Draft out of the University of South Carolina. However, he did not make his professional debut until August 18, 2026 due to injuries and played only 11 games with the Single-A Visalia Rawhide.
“I got drafted in ‘25 and pretty much immediately went down with Tommy John (surgery). I made a big throw from center, felt some pain – never good – and then was rehabbing that,” he recalled.
But unfortunately, that wasn’t
the end of his injury-marred pro start. He ended up straining both hamstrings – the right first, then the left while rehabbing the right – and missed more time.
In his first game back, Hall went 0-for-4 with a strikeout, but he recorded his first professional hit – a solo home run – in his second game.
“My favorite hit was definitely my first professional hit in Visalia. (It) was a home run, that was a really special moment,” Hall said.
He also made his favorite defensive play one day later.
“It was my third game in Visalia,” he said. “I made a diving catch in right-center that was pretty sick.”
But despite the injuries, Hall learned a lot about himself through the rehab process.
“I think it helped build my work ethic,” he said. “You have no choice when you’re injured to just continue to work and have that goal of being out on the field. It’s when you’re not injured, you take this game for granted, I feel like, and you don’t realize how quickly it can get taken from you.
“So I think just being grateful for opportunities to play every day – play every single game like my last,” he continued. “And the biggest thing in my rehab, I think, was just building a routine, and I think I did a good job of that.”
Heading into the Fall League, Hall’s mission was simple: “Get more at-bats and put myself in a good position and be confident for spring training.”
“The biggest thing is obviously going into the offseason healthy and just gaining experience,” he said. “This is great talent. I think just continuing to work at-bats against good pitchers and work on the new outfield positioning in the outfield because who knows what’s going to happen with that.”
And how does Hall feel about those new outfield positioning rules?
“It’s interesting, for sure,” he said.
“I definitely prefer the original, but at the same time, it forces you to be more athletic on plays that you necessarily really wouldn’t have to be a good athlete to make that were routine with original positioning. Like in this spot, there’s deep fly balls that are routine outs and now as outfielders, you kind of have to book it to get there to try and make a play.”
At the beginning of the Fall League, Rockies prospect Jared Thomas said, “Everybody in center, right, left… they’re all going to be center fielders at the end of the day.”
Hall emphatically agreed, but noted “it’s not up to me, and that’s okay.”
In addition to getting at-bats and getting used to the new outfield rules, Hall has also been enjoying getting to know prospects from other organizations.
“I’m going to miss this team a lot,” he said. “We have such a great group of guys. I think the biggest thing is just learning from the guys from other organizations. It’s obviously great to have guys with the Diamondbacks that we can kind of stick together.
“But everybody’s been great on this team, and it’s going to be a lot of lifelong friends,” he continued. “And I think seeing everybody’s individual routine and what their organization thinks makes them good is great, and it can carry into my routines.”
Hall has one main goal heading into the offseason: “Stay healthy.”
But he also has some other goals.
“Continuing to be grateful for opportunities to face great pitching,” he said, “continuing to be grateful for opportunities to be on a team with such great guys.
“Everybody’s talented – this is probably one of the most talented teams I’ve ever been on – so I think just taking it all in and prioritizing going to the offseason healthy so we can have a good spring training.”
And Hall wants fans to know how different he is on the field compared to off the field, but in a good way.
“I compete. I hate to lose,” he said. “I’m pretty quiet off the field, but I like to consider myself pretty vocal. I’m just a nice guy. I feel like (if) you talk to me off the field, you would never know what kind of attitude I have when I’m on the field. I think I try to have a pretty intense attitude and have a quiet confidence, but off the field, I’m just a pretty chill guy.”
Hall finished the Arizona Fall League slashing .176/.429/.265 with three doubles in 12 games, and he missed some time with hamstring tightness. It wasn’t the most spectacular of offensive lines, but he did draw 14 walks to nine strikeouts in 34 total at-bats. Hall also stole seven bases in eight attempts. Hopefully he can indeed stay healthy next year, and build on the positives through 2027.
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