SF Giants: Kyle Harrison voted the best pitching prospect in the Eastern League
It's been quite a year for SF Giants pitching prospect Kyle Harrison. The De La Salle alum has dominated the minor leagues since the Giants drafted him in the third round of the 2020 MLB draft, but he's taken things to another level. Folks around the league have taken notice. In Baseball America's review of the prospects with the best tools at Double-A, Harrison was voted the best pitching prospect in the Eastern League.
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Harrison was a consensus back half top-100 prospect in the minor leagues heading into this season. Still, his stock has been rising ever since. Starting the year at High-A Eugene, Harrison dominated opposing hitters. In seven starts, Harrison racked up 59 strikeouts in 29 innings pitched with a 1.55 ERA despite being more than three years younger than the average player in the league.
The Giants promoted Harrison to Double-A Richmond early in the summer to try and challenge the southpaw. He has passed that test with flying colors. Now nearly five years younger than the average player in the league, Harrison has recorded a 2.96 ERA in 73 innings pitched (15 starts) with 108 strikeouts.
Harrison's arsenal features a mid-90s fastball that plays well above its velocity because of his unique release point. He also features a wipeout breaking ball and a changeup that have each flashed the potential to be plus pitches as well. Harrison is still working on corraling his command, which can get erratic at times, but he has taken notable strides this season.
Harrison turned 21 less than a month ago. Given his youth, the Giants have been hesitant to push Harrison's workload too much, leading him to average less than five innings per start this year despite his dominance. The only remaining questions in his development are how significantly he can improve his command and how he will handle a heavier workload. Nevertheless, the SF Giants have to be more than happy with how impressive Kyle Harrison has looked this season. After all, he's already the best pitching prospect in the Eastern League.
