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: Double-A

Notable Performers
Caleb Kilian: 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R (3 ER), 0 BB, 9 K, 3.86 ERA
Michael Plassmeyer: 1 G, 1 GS, 4.2 IP, 10 H, 7 R (7 ER), 0 BB, 2 K, 13.50 ERA
R.J. Dabovich: 2 G, 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 6 K, 9.00 ERA
Joey Marciano: 1 G, 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 0.00 ERA

In his first three Double-A starts, Caleb Kilian was pitching effectively but was not producing the strikeouts that he was recording in bunches when he was in Eugene. In his lone start last week, however, Kilian finally brought out the punchouts, amassing nine in seven innings of work. He induced 13 whiffs, which is almost the same number of whiffs in his first three Double-A starts combined (14). His curveball showed up and his fastball was sitting in the mid-90s.

Last week was also the organizational debut of Michael Plassmeyer who was acquired from the Rays for Matt Wisler. He was not greeted happily by the Somerset hitters, however, as they pounced on him and scored seven runs. Known for his control over stuff as he features a four-pitch mix, he should fare much better in his next start for Richmond.

Top reliever prospect R.J. Dabovich gave up his first runs as a Flying Squirrel in his first appearance via the long ball, but all of his outs came via the strikeout. It was a rather dominant week for the right-hander as he continues to rise through the system quickly. Another dominant reliever in the Richmond bullpen is Joey Marciano. With another scoreless outing in the books, he now has only given up one run in 16 innings of work with a 22:5 strikeout to walk ratio. He continues to be dominant and deserves a Triple-A call-up. What a comeback for him.

One final note: Sean Hjelle was pulled early from his start with an apparent leg injury and was placed on the injured list.

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.