San Francisco Giants Likely Won't Call Up Their Star Pitching Prospects

The San Francisco Giants made headlines when they were the ones who finally landed reigning NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell this offseason.

It was an interesting saga for the veteran left-hander.

Coming off one of the best years of his career, the market seemed ready to offer him a megadeal in the range of $300 million, but after the list of suitors was surpisingly limited, he stayed a free agent into Spring Training before joining the Giants.

San Francisco's front office had a busy winter, attempting to put together a contending team by bringing in high-profile players from outside the organization.

So far, it largely hasn't translated to wins.

Entering Thursday, they have a 34-35 record, putting them eight games out of first place in the NL West, but holding onto a tie for the third Wild Card spot.

The goal was for the Giants to get back into the playoffs, and it's going to be a battle to accomplish that.

However, there is still plenty of improvements this group can make as they have not been able to put together a prolonged streak of consistent play so far this season.

Much of that has to do with injuries.

Snell has been a main culprit of that, currently serving time on the injured list for the second time this year while owning an 0-3 record and 9.51 ERA across his six starts.

That's certainly concerning for San Francisco, but the ace's track record has shown his ability to rebound from tough starts and become an elite pitcher in this league.

They're going to need that type of performance from the high-priced starter to close out the year strong and help them earn a spot in the playoffs.

Outside of Snell, though, they also got some great news about another past Cy Young winner who is on this roster.

Robbie Ray continues to progress, and it looks like he could be making his debut with the team soon.

Because of that, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area thinks many of the Giants' top pitching prospects won't be called up to the bigs.

"There are a lot of good arms in Triple-A, but if the Giants have to use any of them in their rotation in the second half, something has probably gone seriously wrong with their original game plan," he writes.

That original game plan he's referencing is relying on some of their younger arms during the early portion of the season before turning over the heavy workload to the veterans on their roster to get them over the finish line.

When Ray and Snell return, they should be able to execute that.

The prospects he's referencing who will likely stay in the minors are Mason Black, who got an opportunity early before he posted an 8.79 ERA across four appearances and three starts, Carson Whisenhunt, who reached Triple-A for the first time, and Landon Roupp, who has performed well in Triple-A but is on the injured list.

All three of these players are viewed favorably and could be future stars in their rotation.

Whisenhunt is San Francisco's No. 2 overall prospect, Black is ranked seventh, and Roupp is No. 11.

Fans might want to see what these players can do at the Major League level, but it's clear they need a bit more time of development before they are ready to pitch in The Show.

Of course, the only way this strategy will work is if Ray and Snell are able to return, stay healthy, and perform well so that the Giants can finally have some stability in their starting unit.