Series Preview: SF Giants @ Phillies - all eyes on Kyle Harrison
You can't escape it. Even here, in the humble biweekly Series Preview column, the talk of the town is Kyle Harrison's long-awaited promotion to the Bigs. He'll toe the rubber for San Francisco on Tuesday, taking Ross Stripling's position amidst the SF Giants' garrison of "bulk pitchers," and likely throw 3-4 innings if all goes well. Pitching hasn't been the Giants' primary issue over the last two months, but for a season in need of a spark - any spark - there's no harm in seeing what the Giants' highly-touted left-handed pitching prospect can do.
Harrison's promotion represents the last major domino in a season that's been defined by the first wave of homegrown talent under Farhan Zaidi's watch (although it includes several players acquired under the previous regime). For the better part of five years, the Giants have been accumulating talent while surviving on deft trades and waiver-wire pickups. Now, they finally have the type of young core that hasn't been seen since the Giants' early championship era days, when Buster Posey and co. built an entire infield all by themselves.
Perhaps that's the reason why the Giants have saved the best for last. With fewer than 60 games remaining, San Francisco will have the rights to Harrison's rookie contract for an extra year going forward. In fairness, they had no such compunction with working around service time considerations for Patrick Bailey, Casey Schmitt, Luis Matos, Wade Meckler, and others. But for all of the various struggles and successes of the other rookies, Harrison sits in a tier of his own as MLB's #1 overall LHP prospect. It's high time to see what he can do for the major league club. Let's just hope his arrival didn't come too late to matter this year.
Series Details
Who: SF Giants at Philadelphia Phillies
Where: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
When: August 21-23, Monday (3:40 PM), Tuesday (3:40 PM), and Wednesday (1:05 PM). All times Pacific.
Giants' current streak: W1, 3-7 in last 10. 65-59 overall, 2nd place in NL West (11.5 GB)
Phillies' current streak: W1, 5-5 in last 10. 67-56 overall, 2nd place in NL East (13.0 GB)
Projected starters
Monday: Scott Alexander* ** (6-2, 4.06 ERA) vs. Aaron Nola (10-8, 4.58 ERA)
Tuesday: Kyle Harrison* (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Taijuan Walker (13-5, 4.03 ERA)
Wednesday: Alex Cobb (6-5, 3.75 ERA) vs. Michael Lorenzen (7-8, 3.57 ERA)
*Indicates LHP
**Indicates opener
How to watch, listen
- SF Giants broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area, KNBR 680/1510 AM
- Opposing broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia, 94 WIP/WTTM 1680
- National broadcasts: MLB Network (Monday and Wednesday, out-of-market only)
- Live stream: fuboTV (start your free trial)
