It didn’t take former Hewitt-Trussville star Steele Hall long to hear his name called Sunday night.
The Tennessee shortstop signee was selected No. 9 overall by the Cincinnati Reds in the first round of the 2025 MLB Draft. He was the first player selected with Alabama connections.
“I think (speed is) what put him into the category that he’s in now, because when he was first recruited or sought after by college programs, he was a smaller kid, couldn’t run quite as well as he can now, and it wasn’t about the bat at all,” Tennessee coach Tony Vitello said of Hall on MLB Network. “It was just about the glove. And then he started having a little bit more arm strength come along, the speed became a factor, then the hit tool — hit a lot of home runs this year as a high school player but again reclassed.
“He hit a growth spurt and this time last summer, no scout would say that this kid could be drafted this high in the first round, but now everybody was kind of salivating over the opportunity of him maybe being in the middle of the (first round). It didn’t even happen there.”
He is entitled to a signing bonus in excess of $6 million, according to MLB’s draft pick slot value system. He was the fifth shortstop taken in the first nine picks of the draft.
Hall, who started his high school career at Daphne before transferring to Hewitt-Trussville prior to his sophomore season,
was named Alabama’s Mr. Baseball in June by the Alabama Sports Writers Association.
The Class 7A Player of the Year hit .484 for the Huskies this spring with eight home runs, 14 doubles, 35 RBIs and 46 runs scored. He also was the MaxPreps Alabama Player of the Year.
Steele was a shortstop in high school, but there is some question where he might play at the professional level. He’s drawn comparisons to Trea Turner, the Philadelphia Phillies’ All-Star shortstop.
“If you can play short, you can play anywhere,” Vitello said. “I believe that in my heart. Steele Hall’s a guy who might end up in center field, running them down in the gap. Just put him at shortstop and let him down his thing, and then we’ll figure it out later.”
He is the first Alabama player drafted in the first round out of high school since UMS-Wright pitcher Maddux Bruns in 2021. Bruns went No. 29 overall to the Los Angeles Dodgers and is currently pitching at High Class-A.
Hall,
who moved in at Tennessee last week
, watched the draft with family and friends in Trussville.
“Steele possesses skill sets that honestly we’ve never seen before in a 17-year-old kid as far as the twitchiness of his game, the athleticism, the speed, the power, arm strength,” Hewitt-Trussville coach Jeff Mauldin said. “Also, earlier this year, he was doing some things mentally that we had never seen. God has truly blessed him. When you talk about a 5-tool player, Steele is probably actually a 6-tool player if you add the mental part of it.”
Hall is the earliest pick straight from an Alabama high school since pitcher Braxton Garrett from Florence to the Miami Marlins at No. 7 in 2016. The only other higher picks straight from an Alabama high school in the main summer draft are shortstop Condredge Holloway from Lee-Huntsville to the Montreal Expos at No. 4 in 1971 and pitcher Rick James from Coffee-Florence to the Chicago Cubs at No. 6 in 1965.
Hall, who reclassified, is still only 17. MLB said this about Hall:
“He’s one of the fastest players in the Draft — some scouts give him 80-grade speed on the 20-to-80 scouting scale — and he could be a plus defender at shortstop, too. He’s aggressive at the plate, but there’s plenty of offensive upside.”
Staff writers Mark Inabinett and Creg Stephenson contributed to this report.
Read more Alabama high school sports
-
Alabama star Ryan Williams returns to Saraland for camp, talks time management, Tide recruiting and more
-
Ken Stabler, Bo Jackson and 5 other MLB draft picks who played in the NFL
-
A look at some key numbers heading into the 2025 HS football season
-
Which player with Alabama football roots has the most NFL rushing yards?
-
NFL back from Alabama arrested on domestic-violence charge
