SF Giants prospects: A weekend with Kyle Harrison, Casey Schmitt, more
NOTE: Some of this article was previously published in a feature on Kyle Harrison and a notebook-style scouting notes piece.
SF Giants prospect Kyle Harrison (Giants #1 prospect) struggled in his first two starts as a Sacramento River Cat. Those first two appearances covered just 2.2 innings and saw the young lefty give up four runs and a worrying eight walks. But on Saturday, as Harrison took the mound for his latest start, he was untouchable. He struck out two of the first three batters he faced. Then he struck out the next batter. And the next. And the next. Harrison needed only 50 pitches to breeze through his planned 4-inning start, and by the time it was all over, he'd fanned seven of the twelve hitters that faced him. Pitch-for-pitch, it was one of the most dominant performances by a Giants prospect in recent memory. And Harrison's only getting better.
I caught up with Harrison after his mesmerizing one-hit performance to ask him about his rapid ascent through the Giants' minor league system and where he goes from here. Part of the reason that he's quickly become the top-ranked left-handed pitching prospect in all of Major League Baseball is that he understands the value of focused aggression. From Harrison himself:
"Ultimately, it comes down to throwing strikes. I think I got the stuff that plays, so I'm gonna keep throwing the way I throw unless hitters and results tell me otherwise... I'm gonna keep attacking the zone and try to replicate what I did tonight."
Which makes sense - when you're playing a game that's won and lost on the margins, and you know your stuff gives you an edge over your opponent, make them beat you first. That's how you average an ERA of under 3.00 and more than a strikeout and a half per inning over your entire professional baseball career. And once you know you have that edge, you can keep pushing and pushing, to the point where a single ground ball through the infield is a major victory for the other team. That's the leverage point that Harrison always tries to get himself to.
"It feels good, you know? It takes [the pressure] off you to where you honestly don't have to try as hard... when all your stuff is in the zone, now you can start playing and start actually pitching. That's something I've been trying to get to - command was a little bit of an issue - but tonight I figured it out and was able to command both sides of the plate and expand later in counts."
For someone who threw 34 strikes in 50 pitches, command sure didn't seem like it was an issue. But Harrison's had to navigate a tricky situation with minor league baseball's ever-shifting relationship with automatic strike zones, pitch clocks, and other status quo shakeups. For a pitcher whose stuff has always shone through before the control has, that's the final piece to the puzzle to becoming a major league star. Giants fans should be ecstatic to hear that even after such a dominating performance, Harrison knows there's still another level to reach by balancing his aggression with his command.
"You take this start right here, and now you build, you know? That's what Patty [Giants #21 prospect Patrick Bailey], said to me, 'Now we go.' I got the stuff to do it, and I showed it tonight, that I can be in the zone consistently. So that's the bar. Let's live there."
Of course, there's no love lost (in the positive) for his teammates as he claws his way towards the top. Harrison took the time to give shoutouts to fellow prospect Casey Schmitt, a "goofball" who he envies for his natural ability to "figure [baseball] out" and "just pick up a ball and play," as well as teammate Kade McClure, whose dry wit has made him the centerpiece of a few mid-inning video segments on Sutter Health Park's videoboard. And Harrison made sure to voice his appreciation for the fans that kept the house rocking as he tore through a hapless Las Vegas Aviators lineup.
"Supporting us... means a lot when you fill up those seats out there," he said of the 8,553 fans who came out to see the fireworks. "I can't thank you guys enough."
* * *
This weekend, I visited Sutter Health Park, home of the Giants' AAA affiliate, watching a few games live and up close to check the pulse of San Francisco's farmstead. I was able to come away with some unexpectedly strong conclusions as I traced the threads of the many players journeying to, or perhaps back to, the big leagues. The main draw, of course, was the prospects, the sometimes-hot and sometimes-not players from Patrick Bailey to Will Wilson. But there were also several high-profile rehab stints to be seen from players sharpening their skills before an imminent promotion, an in between, the taxi squad guys, looking to be something more than the 26th man on a roster. All of them showed off and showed up in different ways this weekend.
But even ignoring the wide range of talents and histories on the Sacramento roster, I was reminded that minor league baseball is a totally different beast than the major league version. For one, baseball has seen a slew of rule changes in recent years that have been bred in the testing grounds of the minor leagues, and more are still on the horizon. The automatic balls-and-strikes system (aka ABS, rob-umps, or the automatic strike zone) was in play for most of April, and its reputed tightness certainly didn't help pitchers dealing with command struggles.
This weekend, though, the ABS system took a backseat to the challenge system, in which balls and strikes were called normally by umpires, but teams could challenge pitch calls, which would be determined by their ABS-recorded location. The limits on this challenge system were many yet intuitive: each team had only 3 challenges per game, and would lose them if they failed to overturn a pitch call, challenges had to be issued immediately, and the dugout could have no role in issuing them, leaving its utility solely in the hands of the pitcher, batter, and catcher. At its worst, this challenge system was another failure point in the busy and frantic ballpark A/V system. At its best, it was a quick, objective, visible to everyone immediately on the videoboard, and didn't risk back-and-forth communication issues like the pitch-com.
Harrison (perhaps unsurprisingly, given his early-season command struggles) favored the challenge system over strict ABS, even if he noted that it could have been implemented better. And I'd have to agree. I thought it added an element of competitive strategy that hasn't been seen since everyone realized the hit-and-run is a statistically bad play, and there's no waiting around while umpires stare quizzically into a comically small video player.
Smaller considerations include the pitch clock, which seems to have been mastered by these minor league players. I completely forgot that it was there until the 9th inning of Friday's game, during which the trauma of watching Giants closer Camilo Doval burn three mound visits in the span of one batter emerged from my subconscious, and my eyes shot frantically to the pitcher, who was already in his windup. At no point did anyone seem to come close to risking a pitch clock violation, which bodes well for the upcoming crop of players.
Of considerably less relevance, I saw an outfield door swing open not once, not twice, but five times during my two days at the ballpark. Most of the time this was due to balls or players crashing hard against that segment of the fence, but at some point I think the stadium guys just did that to mess with me.
The last note is that during the two games I saw - a tightly contested battle taking place during a light sprinkling of rain, and a River Cats blowout on a pleasant Saturday afternoon - the offensive production from both sides seemed peculiarly well-earned, given the Pacific Coast League's reputation as a hitter's paradise. But as I was informed by a reliable River Cats staffer, the vaguely wintery conditions helped settle things down to normal. Come June, though, the warm weather would undoubtedly help the offense erupt - not unlike during the Mexico City series between the Giants and Padres, though perhaps without the Teflon turf seen there.
That makes the Cats' offensive production over the weekend even more notable, as they scored 15 runs in those games. That production was spread around most of the roster, but let's start the analysis with the prospects, before moving onto other notable figures. You can read about the Giants Baseball Insider preseason prospect rankings here for more info.
The prospects
Kyle Harrison, LHP (Giants #1 prospect):
Verdict: Untouchable. There hasn't been a Giants pitcher who was this good at making hitters look this bad since prime Tim Lincecum. Harrison only threw four innings this outing, but not for any lack of results - it only took him 50 pitches to retire all 12 hitters he faced. He had five strikeouts through the first two innings, and seven in total. His final line was 4.0 IP, 7 K, 0 BB, 1H, 0 ER on 50 pitches (34 strikes). After a rough start to the season that seemed tied to the implementation of a strict ABS strike zone, Harrison has allowed just 3 ER in his last five starts (17 innings total). Other than the artificially low inning total, there's nothing he really has left to prove. He's figured this league out.
Casey Schmitt, SS (Giants #3 prospect):
Verdict: Solid. Schmitt had a promising pair of games this weekend, producing consistently and making plus plays at shortstop. He didn't show off much raw power, but he had the kind of high-effort, high-IQ play style that kept him constantly finding ways to create value. Schmitt seems to have a good eye for what he can do damage on, but he's got a Belt-like tendency to spit on well-placed third strikes. That'll frustrate some, but to his credit, that's a big reason why it felt like he was always starting rallies with his bat and ending them with his glove. Is he ready for the big leagues? Probably not quite yet. Later this year? Almost certainly
NOTE: Schmitt was called up on Tuesday.
Melvin Adón, RHP:
Verdict: Rough. The toughest outing of the weekend undoubtedly goes to Adón. The talented Dominican reliever has been knocking on the door to the big leagues for a few years now, but hasn't quite put things together. That seemed like the status quo on Friday, when Adón entered the 9th inning to try to preserve a 3-1 lead. Adón regularly got ahead of hitters, but had trouble putting them away, getting to full counts against the first three batters of the inning. He got himself one out away from ending things when he got ambushed for a two-run home run that tied things up. He just didn't seem to have a kill pitch that he could rely on when things got tough, though it's possible the wet conditions gave him trouble.
Will Wilson, SS (Just missed the top 42):
Verdict: Getting there. Remember Wilson? The Giants picked him up in 2020 as compensation for absorbing a bad contract from Anaheim LA. He put up decent numbers in AA Richmond last year, but has faced his share of struggles since being promoted to Sacramento. He had a quietly productive weekend, though, drawing a pinch-hit walk on Friday and knocking two hits, including an RBI single, on Saturday. I saw him playing third (presumably to make room for Schmitt at short), which isn't his most natural position, but he made a pair of solid plays there, and used his speed to steal a run on the basepaths. If he can get comfortable at the AAA level, he might earn a September call-up before being a consideration in 2024.
Patrick Bailey, C (Giants #21 prospect):
Verdict: Showed up, not showed out. That's not meant to be a knock on Bailey, who had a good game on Saturday: he put the ball in play multiple times, knocked an early RBI single, and his lone strikeout came after working a count long enough that a passed ball scored Darin Ruf. He also caught Harrison's splendid outing, which is a massive merit on his part. But it still might be a little while before he's seasoned enough to make the jump to the pros, given that he has just 22 games above the A+ ball level. With Bart threatening to be an above-average major league hitter, there shouldn't be much reason to rush him. That's a good thing, especially when his switch hitting from the right side is lagging nearly .200 OPS points behind his left.
Tyler Fitzgerald, 2B (Giants #20 prospect):
Verdict: Fast...but raw. Fitzgerald gets an honorable mention here, as someone who made an outsized impact on the games I saw compared to my expectations. On Friday, he drove in three of the Cats' six runs, his first RBIs at the AAA level. He turned some beautiful defensive plays and can really fly around the base paths, but he seems pretty mortal against even AAA pitching. He was only drafted in 2019, though, so I can see him breaking out as a Kelby Tomlinson type.
Rehab Assignments
Darin Ruf, 1B:
Verdict: Stiff. The thought that jumped out to me as I watched Ruf this weekend was that his value is tied almost exclusively to his ability to hit the ball hard, especially relative to a corner infield position. He drove the ball a couple times, but almost all of his contact came as either grounders or low liners. Given that he has approximately 'none speed', the launch angle on that hard contact needs to get noticeably higher. The swing-and-miss I saw was also a bit concerning. Of course, he's an old dude doing rehab, so he's allowed to be rusty, since it's just as likely he'll launch a massive home run in his first game back.
NOTE: Ruf was designated for assignment on Tuesday.
Bryce Johnson, CF:
Verdict: Elite. Of all the position players I watched this weekend, Johnson came up with the strongest performance by far. He led off Saturday's game with a double off the left-center field wall, finessed a HBP into steals of second and third, and contributed a sac fly later in the game. Even his lone strikeout came after he worked the count full. He's attacking pitchers with a plan, making smart decisions on the field, and using his speed as a weapon on both offense and defense. After what happened to Mac Williamson, I don't ever want to pound the table to get a guy suffering from a concussion back onto the field. But if Johnson's still experiencing symptoms, I'm having a hard time seeing them. He looks ready to come back. For everyone's sake, I hope he is.
NOTE: Johnson was activated and optioned back to Triple-A.
Up-and-down crew
Heliot Ramos, LF (Giants #17 prospect):
Verdict: Still feeling powerless. Ramos was a bit quieter than most of the other big names this weekend, even if his defense was as solid as ever. His biggest moment came in the 9th inning on Friday, when he started a potential game-winning rally with a walk. In that sequence, he... 1. threw his bat all the way to the outfield on a swing and miss (partly due to wet conditions) 2. nearly got hit by a pitch, his reaction to which ended up summoning the trainer and manager, and 3. chucked his bat twenty feet behind him on ball 4 before heading to first. It was an odd sequence all the way around, one that seemed indicative of a frustratingly unimpressive season thus far.
Sean Hjelle, RHP (Giants #28 prospect):
Verdict: Still has starting potential. Hjelle's rough April makes his return to Sacramento a bit unsurprising, especially as a younger guy with options. But I don't think whatever struggles he's working through are going to keep him in Sacramento forever. On Friday, he pitched three innings of scoreless baseball, allowing just one hit and no walks. He was excellent in that outing, and I have to think that he'll perform better in a starting role, especially considering he only moved to the bullpen once he reached the majors. Seeing whether a Harrison-Hjelle tandem can be sustained at the major league level might serve everyone better than continuing to stick Hjelle into a long relief role.
