O's take high school lefty in first round (Chris Davis injured)

CHICAGO - The Orioles selected a high school left-hander with their first-round pick in the First-Year Player Draft tonight. They selected DL Hall out of Valdosta (Ga.) High School with the 21st overall selection.

He is ranked by MLB.com as the No. 14 overall talent in the draft, and No. 18 by Baseball America. MLBPipeline.com's Jim Callis call the pick "a steal for the Orioles at 21." Hall has a college commitment to Florida State.

He is the first high school pitcher the Orioles have taken with a first-round selection since they drafted Hunter Harvey No. 22 overall in 2013.

O's scouting director Gary Rajsich on Hall: "Hall is a polished, young left-handed pitcher, with a good fastball, curve, changeup and good control. We project seeing him in our starting rotation in the near future."

Baseball America on Hall: Hall's performance at the 2016 East Coast Pro Showcase was the stuff of legend. With the eyes of baseball's entire amateur scouting community upon him, Hall struck out seven batters - including Jeter Downs, Tim Elko and Brady McConnel - in three electric innings. Hall has arguably the highest ceiling of any pitcher in this year's class. His fastball velocity sometimes settles in the low 90s, but mostly works at 92-95 and touches 96. His fastball command can come and go, but he is a good athlete, and scouts expect him to develop better command as he matures physically. His curveball shows exceptionally late break with 1-to-7 shape; some scouts grade it as a future 60 while optimists have rated it as high as a 70. He can show an above-average changeup when he is throwing strikes, with the pitch showing late tumbling action in the low 80s. Hall is committed to Florida State. His inconsistency hurt his draft stock a bit during the spring, but his upside remains unquestioned and he's unlikely to slide too far in the first round. Hall is a bit older for the class, and will turn 19 in September.

This was the highest first-round pick by the Orioles since they selected right-hander Kevin Gausman No. 4 out of LSU in 2012. The last time the Orioles had the No. 21 pick they took Ball State outfielder Larry Bigbie in 1999.

The suggested slot bonus amount to sign that selection is listed as $2,892,400. The O's total draft pool for the top 10 rounds of selections is $6,846,700.

The Orioles have two more picks later tonight before the first day of the draft ends. They have the No. 60 selection overall, which is their second-round pick. They have the No. 74 overall selection, which is a pick in competitive-balance round B, which comes at the end of the second round.

In the second round: The O's selection was prep shortstop Adam Hall out of A.B. Lucas Secondary School in Ontario. Candada. That was with the No. 60 overall selection. With the 74th overall pick, the Orioles took left-handed pitcher Zac Lowther out of Xavier University.

As for the game: It is going terribly so far for the Orioles in Chicago, where they trail 6-0 in the fourth. Starter Wade Miley became the latest to have a short start, as he gave up six hits and six runs over 2 1/3 innings and his ERA went from 3.27 to 3.97. He was knocked out during Chicago's four-run third inning.

In addition to the lopsided score, first baseman Chris Davis left this game after he flied out to right with the bases loaded and two outs in the third. No report yet on why Davis left the game. But Trey Mancini moved from left field to first base and Hyun Soo Kim went into left field in the fifth spot in the order. The O's left five on base the first three innings.

Davis update: The Orioles announced that Davis left the game with a right oblique strain.

The O's scored twice in the fourth and knocked Mike Pelfrey out the game. Adam Jones had an RBI single and Seth Smith an RBI double.