San Francisco Giants Youngster Not Concerned With Less Than Ideal Velocity

A young San Francisco Giants pitcher knows that an increase in velocity will come eventually.

Aug 13, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Kyle Harrison (45) throws a pitch against the Atlanta Braves during the third inning at Oracle Park. / Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants look to have one spot in their starting rotation that is up for grabs during spring training.

Logan Webb is locked in as the team’s ace, a reliable workhorse who takes the ball every time it is his turn. Behind him will be two former Cy Young Award winners; Robbie Ray and Justin Verlander.

Jordan Hicks is expected to have a starting role, and he will look to prove he can handle the rigors of being in the rotation despite some injury concerns throughout his career.

For the No. 5 spot, it looks as if Kyle Harrison, Hayden Birdsong and Landen Roupp will be battling it out.

Birdsong has flashed incredible stuff, but it wouldn’t hurt for him to get more experience since he has only two starts at the Triple-A level and 16 in the Major Leagues.

Working on his craft and honing his control in the minors could help him achieve his ceiling.

Roupp has worked his way into the discussion with some truly dominant outings during the spring.

He was a surprise part of the Opening Day roster in 2024 as a reliever. That could certainly be in the cards again in 2025 if he doesn’t make the rotation, but he is making a very strong push for that final spot.

The player everyone is keeping an eye on is Harrison, who was the most highly-regarded during their times in the minor leagues.

He was a top 100 prospect heading into 2024 and more than held his own across 24 starts. Before a tough August, his ERA was under 4.00. 

Whether it was him still dealing with the shoulder injury he was suffering from, opponents getting more tape and adjusting, or a combination of both, his performance suffered as he gave up 23 earned runs in 26.2 innings, resulting in his ERA jumping to 4.56 at the finish.

Opponents were squaring his pitches up with more regularity, as Harrison allowed eight home runs over that span; he had allowed only 10 over his first 18 starts of the campaign.

A reason for his tough stretch could be because his velocity was a little lower than some would like to see.

However, it isn’t something the talented lefty is overly concerned with, as he believes he can still get the job done with the stuff he possess.

“People are so obsessed with the idea of me and velo,” said Harrison, via Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic (subscription required). “That’s the thing: I don’t need the velo to get the swing-and-miss. The analytics show that. And I know it’ll get there.”

Only 23 years old, he isn’t even scratching the surface of his full potential.

He didn’t make it to the Major Leagues at 22 years old by accident, so there is a lot of talent to work with even without overwhelming velocity.

As he develops naturally, his pitch speed should tick upward.

Once that occurs, the strikeout numbers he produced in the minor leagues could start popping up in the Majors and he will be viewed as a frontend starter.

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