5 Giants prospects who could debut in '23

This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado’s Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The Minor League season is officially in full swing, with all four of the Giants’ full-season affiliates expected to be in action for the first time on Saturday. Each level features rosters filled with intriguing young talent, though Triple-A Sacramento and Double-A Richmond could generate the most excitement since they have the potential to graduate several players to the Majors this year.

Here are five Giants prospects who could debut in 2023:

1. Kyle Harrison, LHP
Rated the Giants’ No. 1 prospect by MLB Pipeline, Harrison showed off his electric arsenal in his Triple-A debut on Tuesday, topping out at 96.3 mph with his fastball and flashing his plus slider while striking out four of the 11 batters he faced. The 21-year-old also walked four and gave up one earned run on one hit over two plus-innings, so he’ll have to continue to work on refining his command.

Harrison got knocked around in his first big league camp with the Giants, allowing eight runs over 3 2/3 innings (19.64 ERA) in three Cactus League appearances, but president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has made it clear that the De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) High School alum could earn a quick promotion if he shows he can dominate at the Triple-A level.

2. Casey Schmitt, 3B/SS
No Giants prospect raised his stock this spring as much as Schmitt, who was named the 2023 Barney Nugent Award winner after batting .333 with a .930 OPS over 15 exhibition games. Known for his elite defense, Schmitt has been splitting time between shortstop and third base at Triple-A Sacramento, where he’s already putting together a defensive highlight reel that could help expedite his path to the Majors.

3. Patrick Bailey, C
A 2020 first-round Draft pick, Bailey will begin the season at Double-A Richmond, but it might not be long before he gets a chance to take over the starting catching role, especially since Joey Bart seems to be running out of runway in San Francisco. Bailey won the Minor League Gold Glove Award at his position last year and is a switch-hitter, though he’s still working on evening out his splits after logging an .851 OPS from the left side, compared to .452 OPS from the right side.

4. Tristan Beck, RHP
Even with a surplus of starting options on the Major League roster, the Giants know they’re going to need plenty of arms to get through the 162-game season. Beck showed that he can be part of that next layer of depth by recording a 4.61 ERA with 13 strikeouts over 13 2/3 innings in five Cactus League appearances this spring. Acquired from the Braves in exchange for Mark Melancon in 2019, Beck touches the upper 90s with his fastball and mixes in three different breaking balls: a gyro slider, a sweeper and a curveball. The Stanford product opened the season at Triple-A Sacramento, where he’s allowed four runs over 8 1/3 innings (4.32 ERA) in his first two starts of the year.

5. Keaton Winn, RHP
Like Beck, Winn was added to the Giants’ 40-man roster over the offseason, putting him in line to potentially contribute to the club’s pitching mix this year. A fifth-round Draft pick out of Iowa Western Community College in 2018, Winn posted a 1.80 ERA over five innings in three Cactus League appearances, pairing an upper-90s fastball with a nasty splitter. The 25-year-old made his Triple-A debut behind Harrison on Tuesday, giving up four runs (three earned) over three innings.