2025 MLB Draft Preview: Steele Hall scouting report
The 2025 MLB Draft is less than a month away — the first round kicks off on July 13, 2025 — so its time to start offering capsule looks at players the Texas Rangers could select with their top picks. The Rangers’ first round pick is at #12, their second round pick is at #52, and their third round pick is at #84.
Leading up to draft day, we will be doing writeups of some of the players who could end up getting selected by the Rangers with one of their first three picks. Today we are looking at Alabama prep shortstop Steele Hall.
Steele Hall is a righthanded hitting shortstop out of Hewitt-Trussville, Alabama. Hall doesn’t turn 18 until late July, and was originally supposed to be in the 2026 draft class, but reclassified to be eligible for the 2025 draft. Although BA has him listed at 5’11”, 160 lbs., MLB Pipeline has him at 6’, 180 lb. — reports indicate he’s gotten bigger over the past year so the Pipeline measurements may be more current. He is committed to the University of Tennessee.
Hall has a solid hit tool, with the ability to handle velocity, though he has gotten knocks on his ability to recognize and handle slower stuff and pitches with spin. BA describes him as “aggressive” at the plate, and there are swing-and-miss concerns as well as overall plate discipline concerns. Hall doesn’t have much power currently, and there are questions as to whether it will ultimately develop to average in-game.
Hall is a true shortstop who is expected to stay at the position, and who BA describes as having “all the tools to be an above-average shortstop defender.” Hall would seem to also have the tools to potentially be an above-average defender in center field, as he is one of the fastest players in the draft class, grading out as a 70-80 runner, depending on the evaluator.
Baseball America has Hall at #15 on their top 500 list. MLB Pipeline’s draft rankings have Hall at #12. Keith Law’s top 100 list ranks Hall at #33. Kiley McDaniel’s top 150 list has Hall at #11. Fangraphs does not have Hall on their board.
Baseball America’s mock draft from June 9 has Hall going to the D-Backs at #18, though they also mention him with the Rangers at #12, the Giants at #13 and the Red Sox at #15. BA’s May 12 mock draft had Hall going to the Rangers at #12. Keith Law’s mock draft has Hall at #22 to the Braves, Kiley McDaniel’s mock draft from June 18 has Hall going at #12 to the Rangers, and mentions him as a possibility with the Reds at #9 and the ChiSox at #10. Jim Callis’s mock draft from the end of May has Hall to the D-Backs at #18, but mentions him as a possibility with several other teams, including the Marlins at #7. Jonathan Mayo’s mock draft from June 6 has Hall at #14 with the Rays, as mentions him as well as a possibility for the Marlins and Rangers. Jim Callis’s June 12 mock draft has Hall dropping to #24 with the Tigers, though with the Rangers at #12 as one of the possible landing spots. The Callis/Mayo combined mock draft from June 19 has Hall going to the Rays at #14.
Hall offers the potential for big upside between his youth and overall collection of tools. Kiley McDaniel describes him as being “somewhere in the Trea Turner/Anthony Volpe/Jett Williams spectrum of smaller shortstops,” with Turner seeming to be the best-case outcome for Hall. Hall also offers a lot of risk, as his reclassification means he’s gotten scouted less, and there are real questions as to how much he’ll be able to hit against better pitchers.
Hall is part of the group of prep shortstops that are expected to go in the 8-15 range that the Rangers (and other teams in that range) have generally been linked to, though his profile as a toolsy guy with some questions about his hit tool makes him more of a deviation from what the Rangers have tended to go with in recent years than some of the other options.
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