San Francisco Giants Rookie Has Career Night In Least Friendly Ballpark

One San Francisco Giants rookie has been the catalyst for getting the team back on track.

Kade Kistner, Dylan Sanders | May 8, 2024

May 7, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Kyle Harrison (45) pitches / Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

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The San Francisco Giants were able to break their four-game skid by defeating the Colorado Rockies by a score of 5-0 on Tuesday night.

One key reason for that victory was an excellent outing from their breakout rookie Kyle Harrison.

Harrison had the best outing of his career, putting together seven scoreless innings despite playing in the infamous Coors Field in Colorado.

Coors is known for its high altitude carrying the ball further and making pitchers look bad. Luckily for San Francisco, the only thing that looked bad tonight was the Colorado offense.

Harrison had gotten off to a rocky start to his rookie season. His ERA had gotten up to 5.00 after five starts. Understandable for a rookie, but things have turned around for him in his last few outings.

In his last three games, he’s given up just one run over 18 innings of work with 16 strikeouts. The 22-year-old was the No. 1 overall prospect in the Giants farm system last season and is starting to perform up to his expectations.

The California native is down to a 3.20 ERA on the season.

He is turning to his curveball less and using his changeup to his advantage in 2024. He has a very efficient fastball but is searching for another dominant pitch in his mix.

His breakout is much-needed as San Francisco rounds out their rotation. The injured Blake Snell has not lived up to expectations, which really threw their plans into wack.

Entering the day, the Giants’ starting pitchers were ranked 19th in ERA, 20th in WHIP and 17th in WAR. That is in spite of Jordan Hicks looking like one of the best pitchers in the league..

If Harrison stays hot and Snell improves after getting healthy, the future of this season will look completely different as San Francisco fights for a playoff spot.

Published May 8, 2024

KADE KISTNER

Kade Kistner is the publisher and beat writer for Sports Illustrated's Inside the Phillies. An alumnus of Tulane University, Kade graduated in 2017 with a degree in Latin American Studies and a minor in Spanish. Upon graduation, Kade commissioned into the United States Navy and attended Naval Flight School in Pensacola, Fl. He served as a Naval Aviator and was stationed in Jacksonville, Fl. During his time in school and the Navy, Kade began covering the MLB and NFL with USA Today, SB Nation, and Sports Illustrated. Kade covered the New Orleans Saints, Texas Rangers, and numerous other teams within the Sports Illustrated network before launching Inside the Phillies, Inside the Astros, and Inside the Cubs. You can follow him on Twitter at @KadeKistner, or if you have any questions or comments he can be reached via email at kwkistner@gmail.com.

DYLAN SANDERS

Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders