San Francisco Giants' Next Star Prospect Shows Substantial MLB-Ready Skills

The San Francisco Giants' most MLB-ready pitching prospect is one that has already had a cup of coffee with the team.

Sep 21, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Mason Black (47) throws against the Kansas City Royals during the fifth inning at Kauffman Stadium. / Scott Sewell-Imagn Images

It has been a busy first offseason for Buster Posey as he's trying to improve a San Francisco Giants team that has been mediocre the last few years.

The new president of baseball operations has been working hard in his first winter on the job for the Giants. Coming into the offseason, San Francisco knew that there was a sizable gap between it and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.

It was never realistic for them to be able to truly believe that they could compete with the Dodgers in 2025, but the goal was to certainly improve and get closer. So far, the offseason has been pretty good for the Giants.

They were able to address arguably their biggest need with the addition of Willy Adames at shortstop. Not only was that position a need for them, but the slugger could also go right into the middle of the order. It also allowed the Giants to move other pieces on the diamond to more effective positions.

In addition to adding Adames in free agency, they also brought in Justin Verlander to help provide a veteran presence for the pitching staff. Since San Francisco was very much in on Corbin Burnes, they likely will continue to spend some money this offseason.

Due to the farm system of the Giants not being one of the best in the league, improvements were always going to come in free agency. However, while the farm system might not be strong, they do have some talent in the organization.

Joel Rueter of Bleacher Report recently wrote about which prospect is most ready to make an impact in the majors in 2025. For the Giants, he chose right-hander Mason Black.

The 25-year-old got a cup of coffee in the majors last season, but the results weren’t great. In eight starts, he totaled a 6.44 ERA. While the numbers might not have been good in his first taste of the majors, he has shown the ability to strike out batters at a high clip in the minor leagues.

In 2023 he had 155 strikeouts in 123.2 innings and that translated well to his promotion to Triple-A last season.

Swing-and-miss stuff is important for all pitchers in this day and age, and Black has that type of plus stuff.

Currently, he figures to have a chance to make the Opening Day roster as a starting pitcher for San Francisco, even with the recent signing of Verlander. At 25 years old, the time to prove himself has arrived, and this will be an important Spring Training for the right-hander to do just that.

While Black may never be an ace in the league, he does seem like he is close to being MLB-ready.