SF Giants pitching prospects week in review (6/13-6/19)

Make sure to revisit our weekly SF Giants prospect rundowns to keep up with each of the organization’s minor-league affiliates. If you do not feel well acclimated to the prospects throughout the farm system, you might want to revisit our prospect week articles that detailed the system from the top prospects to lower-level fringes. If you’re just interested in the biggest names, then the preseason SF Giants top 31 prospects list is the one-stop-shop for you.

SF Giants Prospects Weekly Rundown: Triple-A

Notable Performers
Matt Frisbee: 1 G, 1 GS, 4.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R (3 ER), 1 BB, 1 K, 5.79 ERA
Kervin Castro: 2 G, 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 0.00 ERA
Camilo Doval: 1 G, 1.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HBP, 5.40 ERA

Matt Frisbee was once again hit hard in his start this week against Salt Lake. He only allowed three earned runs but could have been four if not for this spectacular home run robbery by Jaylin Davis.

Frisbee has not been as sharp in Sacramento as he was with Richmond, posting a 7.36 ERA for the River Cats. His strikeouts have gone down drastically with only an 11.4% K rate across three starts at Triple-A. The strikeouts should come back as he never had a strikeout rate below 25% in his pro career before getting called up to Sacramento.

Kervin Castro has settled in this month, with a solid 3.00 ERA in six innings with seven strikeouts and four walks. His stuff looked crisper and was throwing strikes. Both Gregory Santos and Camilo Doval have pitched better as well this week. Both continue to look to get their feet under them. This week looked like a step in the right direction. Stin, none have gone as far to make a push for an opportunity to work in high-leverage situations for the Giants quite yet.

SF Giants Prospects Weekly Rundown: High-A

Notable Performers
Kai-Wei Teng: 1 G, 1 GS, 5 IP, 2 H, 2 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 10 K, 3.60 ERA
Conner Nurse: 1 G, 1 GS, 4 H, 1 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 3 K, 1.80 ERA
Ryan Walker: 2 G, 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 0.00 ERA
Chris Wright: 2 G, 1 SV, 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 0.00 ERA
Jasier Herrera: 2 G, 5 IP, 7 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 5 K, 1.80 ERA

After getting suspended for 10 games for the use of foreign substances, Kai-Wei Teng returned to the mound for the Emeralds and proved that sticky substance or not, he’s going to dominate, striking out 10 Hops hitters across five innings of work. Even though his ERA for the season is 4.74, I think Teng is pitching better than ever because of his improved stuff. His fastball is now sitting in the mid-90s, and his slider took a big jump and has become a real strikeout weapon for him. His strikeout rate this season is a career-best 38% but with the expense of his control with a 15% walk rate. I am excited for what’s in store for Teng as he continues to harness his newfound stuff as the season goes on.

21-year old Conner Nurse pitched his most effective outing in an Emeralds uniform, pitching five innings of one-run ball. Nurse has struggled this season with a 5.23 ERA, but his previous outing could be the start of better things for the right-hander as the season rolls along.

To the relief corps, both Ryan Walker and Chris Wright flashed their stuff with their strong outings this week. Walker, the 25-year old righty sidewinder is more than deserving of a mid-season Double-A call-up, as he is posting his highest strikeout rate (37.8%) and second-lowest walk rate (4.9%) of his career this season. On the other hand, the lefty Wright should follow suit as he continues his breakout season as the best lefty relief prospect in the farm system.

To cap off the Emeralds this week, Jasier Herrera turned in a strong week acting as the innings-eater out of the pen for the squad. Herrera got called up to Sacramento in the final week of May but was sent back right away as the organization shuffled its minor league rosters. He fills the zone with his fastball and slider but he is tipping his pitches as he comes set: his glove wiggles slightly when throwing a fastball and does not when throwing his breaking ball. It hasn’t caused major problems for him yet, but could as he faces better competition.

SF Giants Prospects Weekly Rundown: Low-A

Notable Performers
Kyle Harrison: 1 G, 1 GS, 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 0.00 ERA
Carson Ragsdale: 1 G, 1 GS, 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 7 K, 0.00 ERA
Wil Jensen: 1 G, 1 GS, 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 5 K, 1.50 ERA
Ty Weber: 3 G, 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, 0.00 ERA

Kyle Harrison just keeps getting better and better in each start as a professional. In his latest start, he churned out six shutout innings with eight strikeouts and only one walk. His control was inconsistent but his stuff was dominant as usual. He also threw the most changeups in any start this season, and it flashed above average. He is still learning to mirror his arm action to his fastball, and when he does, it has the potential to be a plus offering.

Carson Ragsdale has continued his strikeout ways, striking out seven in his last start. As a result, the right-hander is now leading the Low-A West in strikeouts with 61 and only Mitchell Parker of the Nationals affiliate has more strikeouts than him in the entire Low-A level. His walk rate has jumped a bit in the month of June, already walking eight as opposed to just five last month, but the 23-year old more than deserves a call-up nonetheless.

Last week’s Low-A West pitcher of the week Wil Jensen continued his solid form this week, pitching six innings of one-run ball. He will turn 24 soon but his pitchability and full four-pitch mix is too advanced for opposing hitters in Low-A. He will probably need to find a better offering to succeed against higher levels, but he’s doing everything that’s been asked of him by San Jose.

Ty Weber stood out once again out of the bullpen with shutout appearances this week. The 23-year old is pitching to the tune of 1.89 ERA with an excellent 22:1 strikeout to walk ratio. Like Jensen, his stuff is not overpowering but he gets the job done and deserves to be called up to the Emeralds soon.

Stay tuned every weekend for a full rundown of the SF Giants hitting prospects on Saturday and pitching prospects on Sunday.