SF Giants prospects rundown 5/8: Kyle Harrison’s anticipated debut

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/8: Double-A

Richmond Flying Squirrels 2 at Hartford Yard Goats 0 (7 innings)
Performance of the Game: Matt Frisbee (5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K)

Richmond Flying Squirrels 9 at Hartford Yard Goats 5 (7 innings)
Performance of the Game: Sandro Fabian (2-4, HR, K, 2 R, 3 RBI)

After a rainout on Friday, the Flying Squirrels returned to the field and took a pair of seven-inning games from the Yards Goats in vastly different ways. On the morning side of the doubleheader, Matt Frisbee needed just 55 pitches (44 strikes) to get through a dominant five shutout innings. Aside from a pair of hits by Matt McLaughlin, Frisbee mixed and matched his way to a blemishless outing before handing the ball to Pat Ruotolo, who walked one and struck out two in two shutout innings to close things out.

Hartford starter Matt Dennis took the hard-luck loss, surrendering doubles to Heliot Ramos and David Villar in the first inning that would ultimately be enough to take the L in an otherwise strong five-innings. Villar scored an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth after doubling again and finding his way around the bases after a throwing error by Casey Golden. Ramos also worked a walk, but no one else reached base more than once in the Richmond lineup.

The second game of the day got off to a similar start, with Ramos working a leadoff walk, Andy Sugilio singling, and Ramos scoring on a throwing error by the catcher when he attempted to steal third. Hartford quickly answered with a run of their own after an error by Villar allowed a runner to reach base, but Flying Squirrels starter Gerson Garabito, a 25-year old signed as a minor-league free agent this offseason with Double-A experience, held his own over four innings.

Then, in the bottom of the fourth, Richmond burst the game open with an explosive eight-run inning. Yard Goats pitchers struggled to find the strike zone, and the few times they did, the Flying Squirrels found the outfield grass, scoring five runs on five singles and a walk. With two outs and runners on first and second, Sandro Fabian (who had already come around to score after a leadoff single earlier in the inning) blasted a pitch off the right-field foul pole for a three-run homer.

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/8: High-A

Eugene Emeralds 6 at Spokane 10
Performance of the Game: Carter Aldrete (2-4, 2 R, K)

Giants fans should probably familiarize themselves with Conner Nurse. An above-slot 34th round pick in the 2017 draft out of Ridge Community High School (Davenport, Florida), Nurse was quietly solid in his pro debut at the Arizona Rookie League in 2018 (12 G, 3.23 ERA, 53 IP, 48 H, 26 BB, 56 K) and had some flashes at Salem-Keizer in 2019. Even after losing the 2020 season, Nurse is still just 21 and is clearly someone the organization’s player development staff is high on if they were willing to start him at High-A.

Nurse was drafted as a projectile 6’6” righty, and he still has some room to fill out. Historically he’s been a low-90s arm that relied on mixing in his breaking ball alongside solid control to be effective. That seems to still be the case. He struck out just one batter in four innings but walked three and allowed two runs on four hits. Nurse is unlikely ever to have the upside of most of the other well-known arms in the Giants system, but his continued progression at such a young age should make sure no one sleeps on his potential.

Replaced by Taylor Rashi, things very quickly got out of hand. Rashi took 38 pitches to get through the fifth inning, and before he recorded three outs, Spokane had added six more runs and was leading 8-0.

The Emeralds offense would not be held down for long, recording six runs and eight hits by the end of the game, but they never got within six runs. Still, Franklin Labour hammered his first home run of the season. Carter Aldrete, who entered the day 1-10 on the season, scored a pair of runs and two hits. Jacob Gonzalez also had a multi-hit game and scored once.

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/8: Low-A

Fresno Grizzlies 1 at San Jose Giants 3
Performance of the Game: Luis Matos (2-4, 2 2B, R, RBI, K)

The best pitching prospect in the Giants system, 2020 third-round selection Kyle Harrison, made his much-anticipated professional debut for quite a bit of fanfare in San Jose, where presumably plenty of friends and family were in attendance (he graduated from nearby De La Salle High School last spring). He showed off an impressive pitch arsenal over three shutout innings and showed some serious struggles with control. He walked three and hit two batters but only allowed one hit and struck out seven. Harrison’s pre-draft scouting report suggested a strong feel for his arsenal with a lack of swing-and-miss stuff.

Ty Weber bounced back from a tough first outing, taking over for Harrison and throwing three shutout innings of his own. Weber had to work around a decent amount of traffic on the basepaths, allowing four hits, but he issued no free passes and struck out four. Another nondrafted free agent from last summer, Wil Jensen, followed Weber with a pair of shutout innings of his own. Chris Wright surrendered a run in the top of the ninth on back-to-back singles but finished the inning otherwise unscathed and recorded his first save of the year.

It was another relatively quiet offensive day for the young prospect-heavy lineup in San Jose. Luis Matos has seemed to adjust to full-season pitching rather quickly, building off a good performance on Friday with another multi-hit game, this time adding a pair of doubles. He is still incredibly aggressive at the plate, swinging at almost every early-count strike he sees and probably chasing more than would be ideal, but he’s showing off his impressive bat-to-ball skills.

We’ll be back with looks at the SF Giants farm system throughout the minor-league season with daily rundowns on the entire organization’s minor-league affiliates.