Kyle Harrison is trying to keep a level head this spring, even though he’s in big league camp and likely just weeks away from achieving a lifelong dream.
As he talked about his future one day, Harrison pointed out that he wouldn’t feel out of place if the Giants decide they don’t need him in the rotation in 2023. That means, Harrison said, that veterans began to have a strong force. season and the rest of the team is in a great place.
The Giants are, in fact, in the playoff race, and pitching is really the only reason they’re still alive after months of offensive struggles. But it doesn’t exist SOMEWHAT gone as planned.
The rotation went from seven deep to two, with Logan Webb and Alex Cobb the only regular starters. The Giants have been able to put together bullpen plays for a while, and have done so very successfully, but the cracks are starting to show.
The staff hopes Harrison will be a luxury addition at some point. They need him to pitch well, and they turned to him after losing for the 11th time in the last 15 games. The good news, at least internally, is that the Giants are very confident that the left-hander is ready to contribute, not just fill in. see Harrison’s attack on the challenge.
“I have a lot of confidence in Kyle,” Kapler told reporters in Philadelphia. “We all have a lot of confidence in Kyle.”
Harrison’s debut will come in a big place, but it’s one he’s been preparing for since being picked up by his hometown team in 2020.
Here’s what you need to know about the top pitching prospect who will make the most anticipated start by a Giants prospect in more than a decade:
Why now?
The Giants really wanted to call up Harrison in July to see how he would look before finalizing their plans at the deadline, but a strained hamstring prevented that from happening. Once the lefties are healthy, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said it’s “starting to take off” in terms of a promotion. In his last two starts, Harrison has struck out 11 and walked none in 7 1/3 innings, clearing the final hurdle in the big leagues.
The staff has been waiting all year for better command, and Harrison threw 44 of 60 pitches for strikes last week. It became clear after that appearance that the call-up was imminent, and Ross Stripling’s injury meant there was a real need at the big league level, too. The Giants were able to go through three “bullpen games” in the rotation because Stripling served as the No. 3 starters who sometimes do that out of the bullpen. But without Stripling, they lack depth. They’ve been waiting for a time when Harrison felt like the right choice and here it is.
“The last couple outings I think he’s taken some real steps forward,” Kapler said Sunday. “We think he’s willing to come in and help us win baseball games. That’s the most important thing.”
Wait, isn’t this a tough environment for a debut?
In a perfect world, the Giants found a soft landing spot and allowed Harrison to debut a few miles from home, in front of a supportive crowd at Oracle Park, and against a team with a less impressive line. The Phillies lead the wild-card race, rank fifth in the majors in runs in the second half, play in a hitter-friendly ballpark and may have the largest fan base in the game. Harrison could hear from them as he warmed up in the bullpen, uncomfortably close to the fans.
The 22-year-old is mature beyond his years, though, and the Giants aren’t worried about the mental side of his game. And the on-field matchup wasn’t exactly the worst, especially given that the Phillies’ series was between two against the Braves, who completely destroyed left-handed pitching.
The Phillies rank 15th in the league in wRC+ against left-handed pitching and have the fourth-highest strikeout percentage, which helps a prospect who averaged 14.6 K/9 in the minors age Harrison also walked a lot of guys in the minors, but the Phillies were 24th in walk rate against lefties.
It’s a lineup full of big names, but Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Bryson Stott bat left-handed and are all close to league-average hitters against lefties. Nick Castellanos (141 wRC+ against lefties), Alec Bohm (139) and JT Realmuto (121) are the ones Harrison should keep an eye on.
“You can tell lefties give you a better shot,” Kapler said. “I don’t want to focus too much on that because it’s really about Kyle getting the opportunity, hanging in there, fighting through a challenging time in some ways, but a great time to improve others. And he’s ready for the opportunity.”
What are those challenges?
Barring an ill-timed injury, it’s mostly just a constant search for more consistent pitching—over time the Giants also have Harrison on a tight pitch count. Between those two factors, Harrison has completed five innings just once this season, and he’s gone four full innings just five times.
The Giants never wavered in their faith. They may be higher on Harrison, with team officials excited about the way he handled adversity in the spring and early in the year. Harrison was very self-aware throughout the process.
“It’s really a test to see what prepares you for the big leagues,” he said in June. “I think that’s the biggest thing for me, and once I know that and I feel completely ready, then I think it’s a go. keep working on it and keep following it .”
What will he throw at the Phillies?
When he was drafted Harrison was always compared to Chris Sale, and while he was not as funky as the Red Sox lefty, he kept the ball well. He would reach the big leagues as a four-pitch guy, one of which was a recent addition.
Harrison’s fastball is in the mid-90s and usually tops out at around 97 mph, and it has great late life. He dominates hitters at the top of the zone, and the Giants believe one of his biggest issues in Triple-A is the automatic strike zone, where many of his top-rail fastballs turn into balls. It’s reasonable to expect Patrick Bailey to frame most of the strikes in the big leagues.
“It’s tough,” Harrison told reporters at Citizens Bank Park. “It’s a little tight for pitchers, for sure. The strike zone for me feels a little low. [Up high] is where I like to pitch.”
Harrison ascended to Triple-A with a good slider and a changeup that he would flash a few times per outing, but earlier this year he added a second breaking ball. The big sweeper is his traditional slider and a two-strike weapon, but he worked with pitching director Brian Bannister and Triple-A pitching coach Garvin Alston to develop a stronger slider – – a cutter — which helps him get into the zone more often and record more quick outs.
“I think the fastball command came in and it’s good. I think I’m past the point of fastball command (being an issue),” he said in “Giants Talk“June Podcast. “Now figuring out how to throw the new slider that I’m throwing, the new gyro slider, how to land more consistently so I can get back into counts and just build the sweeper on that . It’s just trying to see what’s playing out and figure out ways to follow through. That’s the next step.”
On August 10, Harrison threw the sweeper 50 percent of the time and landed it for strikes about 80 percent of the time. Last week, he threw the sweeper 22 times and the cutter nine times, reaching 90 mph on the latter pitch.
The slow slider will make hitters look silly at times and lead the highlight reels. But it’s the rookie cutter’s skill — he threw all nine for strikes last week — that will allow Harrison to reach his ceiling.
So, what are the expectations?
Harrison threw 38 pitches on Aug. 10 and then 60 last week. He should have about 75 himself on Tuesday night, so this likely won’t be a long start, and the Giants will probably be very happy if he can cruise through the lineup once and then get past Harper a second time in the ball has not yet been given. to the bullpen.
Harrison is here as a starter, but right now, he’s no different than Stripling, Jakob Junis and the rest of the guys. Until the Giants get the hang of his pitch count, they will likely piggyback him with several other arms. Because of the occasional command issues and all the strikeouts, Harrison had longer innings than most, so it would be a while before he was counted on for five to six innings a night.
He has the stuff to be dominant in shorter bursts, though, and that’s the hope as he finally makes his debut. No matter what happens, this is a chance for the organization to be happy and the fans should be too.
Harrison is the best starting pitcher the Giants have developed since Madison Bumgarner, and the expectation is that he will team up with Logan Webb for the rest of the decade to form an impressive one-two punch. The Giants are hopeful years from now, we all look back on this night as one that helped the organization take the next step.
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