SF Giants prospects position preview chat: Starting pitching

SF Giants prospects position preview chat: Starters (Part 3)

M: So if you had to pick the next five starting pitching prospects to make their debuts with the Giants, who you going with?

W: Right off the bat, I’m picking Hjelle. The next one that I am picking is Tristan Beck. I am really impressed with the way he improved when he got traded to the Giants. Really playing off his fastball-curveball combo with good feel for the strike zone as well as a potential above-average changeup.

The next three is actually really tough since Corry needs more time and Harrison is still yet to pitch in pro ball. The next three I am picking are Nick Swiney, Kai-Wei Teng, and probably Long. Swiney and Teng can be quick-movers given their pitchability.

M; Ooo, I like Swiney and Teng. I don’t think it will be all of them, but I’m fairly confident two out Hjelle, Beck, and Matt Frisbee will get a chance to start in the bigs. I think both Beck or Frisbee could be moved to a long-relief role before then, but we’ll see. Honestly, after that I think there’s a good chance it is Harrison. He’s young and inexperienced, but there are not really any “quick-moving” starters in the system aside from Teng and if Harrison is that elite-level prospect, he could be at High-A by the end of this year.

For the next spot Teng would probably make sense, but if Corry builds off his 2019 momentum he could rise quickly. I’m not sure what the lost season will do to him, but I was really excited for his 2020. So for the sake of the exercise, I’ll say it’s Frisbee, Hjelle, Harrison, Corry, and Teng in that order. This organization is willing to bet on upside and I could see them promoting guys like Corry aggressively even if they aren’t confident he can consistently give them seven innings, but can go four-five with seven strikeouts consistently.

W: Pegging Harrison to be the youngest lefty since Bumgarner to make his MLB debut for the Giants, I like it! I kind of forgot Frisbee but I would’ve picked him if I got another chance haha! Frisbee was a revelation in 2019 and I never really saw anything for me to think that he will not be a big leaguer one day.

I just thought that if the front office were indeed aggressive on Corry, they would’ve moved him to San Jose towards the back-end of the 2019 season. I mean it’s great that we saw Corry really dominating the competition when he found his groove in June, but I do hope that they are more aggressive with him this time after a lost season.