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 Kyle Harrison Watch is in full swing in San Francisco, where fans are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Giants’ most hyped pitching prospect since Madison Bumgarner.
The wait could be over soon, as Harrison seems to be on the cusp of breaking into the Majors after putting together two consecutive impressive outings at Triple-A Sacramento. Harrison, the Giants’ No. 1 prospect and the top left-handed pitching prospect according to MLB Pipeline, gave up three runs on six hits over four innings in his last start for the River Cats on Tuesday, but he continued to make key strides with his strike-throwing, fanning seven and walking none in the 60-pitch effort.
The 22-year-old has now struck out 11 and walked none over 7 1/3 innings in his last two appearances, catching the attention of president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi.
“He’s kind of had back-to-back really strong outings, and the strike-throwing has been the most encouraging thing,” Zaidi told KNBR’s Adam Copeland and Tom Tolbert on Thursday. “His last outing he gave up three runs on a three-run homer with two strikes. He threw a fastball that was kind of middle-in that was taken out to left field on him, but I still love the attacking the zone. I had a conversation with him the other day, and said, ‘One of the key elements of being able to pitch successfully in the big leagues is being able to beat good hitters in the strike zone. You’re not going to be able to make a living off of getting guys to chase.’ I was really encouraged.”
Harrison, who missed most of July with a right hamstring strain, still isn’t fully stretched out and has completed five innings only once in 21 starts this year, but that wouldn’t preclude the Giants from folding him into their big league rotation, as they have several bulk options who could come in behind him and help cover innings.
San Francisco’s rotation, which features only two traditional starters in Alex Cobb and Logan Webb, could use a boost, but it’ll be tough to find a soft landing spot for Harrison in the coming weeks. He’s lined up to make his next start on Sunday, when the Giants close out a three-game series against the Braves, who boast the best record in the National League and have crushed lefties this year. The Giants will then take on the Wild Card-leading Phillies at Citizens Bank Park before returning home for another series against the Braves.
“I think whenever you’re talking about graduating a prospect to a Major League level, you consider every angle,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “Oftentimes, when you’re in the middle of August and you’re in a playoff position, you have to think about what helps the team win more than anything else. It’s not that you don't focus on the development of the players and try to give them as much experience as possible or give them a soft landing, but I think you’re first and foremost evaluating the needs of the Major League team.”
Another challenge would be figuring out how to get Harrison on the roster, as the only candidates to be optioned would be rookies Ryan Walker and Tristan Beck, both of whom have carved out valuable roles on the pitching staff. Still, Ross Stripling has been dealing with some back stiffness, so if he needs to miss some time, Harrison would likely be the obvious choice to replace him.
“These things have a way of working themselves out,” Zaidi said. “I do think collectively on our staff everybody has pitched pretty well. Even some of the guys that started off the season struggling have been pitching a lot better lately. I think with someone like Kyle, we’ll figure it out. We’ll find a way to make room for him.”