Report: SF Giants to call up top pitching prospect Kyle Harrison from Triple-A
The SF Giants are going to call up left-handed pitcher Kyle Harrison (Giants Top 4 Prospect) from Triple-A Sacramento to make his MLB debut on Tuesday, per a report by FanSided's Robert Murray. Murray's report has been confirmed by Roger Munter of There R Giants. Harrison is the consensus top pitching prospect in the organization and a consensus top-50 prospect in the minor leagues. Harrison is expected to join the Giants and make his big-league debut against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday. With the Giants struggling, the team is clearly hoping that Harrison can push them over the top.
The best pitching prospect in the Giants organization (and arguably the best in the minors), Harrison has spent the entire 2023 season at Triple-A Sacramento. He recorded a 4.79 ERA with 92 strikeouts and 44 walks in 56.1 innings pitched (15 games) prior to the injury. In three starts since returning to Triple-A, Harrison has allowed four earned runs on eight hits and four walks with 13 strikeouts across 9.1 innings pitched.
While the walk numbers are concerning, other young Giants pitchers, like rookies Tristan Beck and Keaton Winn, have had similar struggles at Triple-A that have not carried over to the major leagues. Much of the blame has gone on the ABS (automated ball strikes) system that was implemented this year, which has seemed to be even tighter at the Sacramento River Cats home ballpark.
Harrison has a starter's arsenal, with a trio of pitches that have flashed plus or better potential. His fastball has consistently sat in the mid-90s, reaching 98 mph at times, and plays above its velocity because of some excellent characteristics. His slider has long been his best swing-and-miss pitch, although its movement was so extreme that he developed a subtler breaking ball this season to more easily throw an offspeed pitch for strikes to try and lure more opposing hitters to chase the more devastating offering. He has almost entirely relied on his fastball and pair of breaking balls this year at Triple-A.
Harrison also has a changeup that has flashed plus potential, but he has always been far less confident in it compared to his other pitches. At it's best, it has flashed impressive movement alongside deceptive arm action.
The Giants drafted Harrison in the third round of the 2020 MLB Draft out of Bay Area's own De La Salle High School and convinced him to forego attending UCLA with a $2.5 million signing bonus. In 2021, he began his pro career at full-season ball and went on to win the Low-A West Pitcher of the Year Award. He led the California League in ERA (3.19) and strikeouts per nine innings (14.3) and was named the league's Pitcher of the Year.
Harrison, now 22, emerged as a consensus top-50 prospect in the minor leagues last season after splitting his time between Eugene and Richmond. He recorded 186 strikeouts and only 49 walks in 113 innings with an exceptional 2.71 ERA between High-A and Double-A.
While Harrison was recently out with a hamstring strain, Harrison returned to the field despite an erroneous report by Keith Law of The Athletic. Besides health, the biggest concern surrounding Harrison's potential development remains his command.
Some may raise alarm bells around his platoon splits. Right-handed hitters did significant damage against Harrison this season at Triple-A, hitting .232/.382/.518 against him (lefties managed a meager .167/.278/.226 line). However, he was actually more dominant against right-handed hitters in the first two seasons of his career and remains roughly the age of a college junior who was drafted this summer. It seems like he may need to reintegrate his changeup into his arsenal to be more effective against righties.
It's incredibly difficult to become a big-league starting pitcher, and Harrison's longstanding below-average walk rates are an obvious area of concern. The more recent platoon splits could be another development that forces him to the bullpen. That said, even if he falls short of his true-ace ceiling, he still has such a dominant arsenal that it's hard to envision him forced entirely into a bullpen role. In the event he plateaus, it's easy to envision him following a path similar to former Giants starting pitcher Jonathan Sánchez. Of course, if he puts it all together, he has an arsenal that could rival peak Chris Sale.
Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said last offseason that the team expected Kyle Harrison to make his MLB debut at some point this season. Whether or not the timing of his call up was driven by service time incentives, or not, there are fewer than 45 days remaining in the 2023 season, meaning the SF Giants will retain the chance to receive Prospect Promotion Incentive compensation if Harrison goes on to win awards down the line.
