SF Giants pitching prospects week in review (6/20-6/26)

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, 5 IP, 10 H, 4 R (4 ER), 0 BB, 6 K, 7.20 ERA
Gerson Garabito: 1 G, 3.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 HBP, 0 BB, 4 K, 0.00 ERA
Jay Jackson: 2 G, 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 HBP, 0 BB, 7 K, 0.00 ERA

With the majority of the pitching staff consisting of players with big-league experience, there are only two notable pitching prospects to talk about this week. Matt Frisbee had another rough outing, where his fastball was hit hard throughout the game. However, his strikeouts came back with a Triple-A level-high six. His stuff has been very hittable at the level, especially his fastball, but he will get every single opportunity to bounce back and settle in.

The other notable pitcher this week is Gerson Garabito, who is mostly being utilized in long relief in Sacramento. The soon to be 26-year old is pitching better for the River Cats, with a 3.09 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 11.2 innings pitched. The Dominican is starting to project like a viable long relief option if the MLB club needs an arm.

The trio of reliever prospects received minimal work this week, but an offseason minor league free agent signing, Jay Jackson, continued his dominant work after returning from a hamstring injury. The Giants may not need to find a new bullpen arm for a bit, but if they do, Jackson is making a great argument to get the next opportunity that becomes available.

SF Giants Prospects Weekly Rundown: Double-A

Notable Performers

Michael Plassmeyer: 2 G, 2 GS, 11 IP, 8 H, 2 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 10 K, 1.64 ERA
Caleb Kilian: 1 G, 1 GS, 1 W, 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 8 K, 0.00 ERA
R.J. Dabovich: 3 G, 2 SV, 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 0.00 ERA

After getting greeted rudely in his Richmond debut, Michael Plassmeyer settled in quickly as evidenced by his two strong starts this week. His fastball sits in the 89-92 MPH range, and he has shown confidence to execute both his low-80s changeup and high-70s curveball to any hitter at any count. He’s never been a high strikeout guy (12 strikeouts in 15.2 IP for the Flying Squirrels) but he’s a reliable innings-eater and draws either a Tommy Milone or a Jason Vargas comp.

Caleb Kilian continues to get better and better the more that he pitches in the Double-A level with another stellar start this week. Our very own Jeff Young wrote about Kilian’s adjustment to Double-A that you should definitely check out. With the way that Kilian is pitching this season, he is in consideration as a Top-15 prospect and is clear-cut the second best pitching prospect in the organization after nearly two months of action, in my opinion.

On the bullpen side, R.J. Dabovich had a bit of a down week after allowing the first two hitters to put the ball in play of his Double-A career. Kidding aside, the 2020 4th round draft choice has been dominant against Double-A hitters where 12 of his 14 outs at the level came via the strikeout. He is without a doubt the best performing reliever in the farm system this season and could potentially get a Triple-A call-up at the end of the season.

SF Giants Prospects Weekly Rundown: Low-A

Notable Performers

Prelander Berroa: 1 G, 1 GS, 1 W, 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 8 K, 1.80 ERA
Carson Ragsdale: 2 G, 2 GS, 1 W, 1 L, 8 IP, 9 H, 7 R (7 ER), 7 BB, 15 K, 7.88 ERA
Kyle Harrison: 1 G, 1 GS, 4 IP, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 6 K, 4.50 ERA
Austin Reich: 2 G, 1 W, 4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 10 K, 1.93 ERA

The spotlight is pointed towards Prelander Berroa after his best start in a San Jose uniform, where his changeup and fastball were on full display. The right-hander is racking up the strikeouts this month with 30 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched. Control is still an issue for Berroa but the 21-year old is dancing to the tune of 3.34 ERA this season.

Speaking of strikeouts, Carson Ragsdale and Kyle Harrison are now first and second in terms of strikeouts in the Low-A West with 76 and 63, respectively. The former had a tale of two starts, the first allowing six runs while the second only allowing one run. One thing to note with Ragsdale is the massive spike in his walk rate this month with a 6.3 BB/9 compared to just 2.3 in May. He’s still generating strikeouts at such a high rate however, and he really deserves a call-up to Eugene.

On the other hand, the latter was so-so in his latest start. The left-hander is starting to ramp up his pitch count where he threw a career-high 88 pitches. After nine starts, Harrison has proven that he is the best pitching prospect in the organization by a good margin.

The star out of the bullpen this week is Austin Reich. The 24-year old is having a strong season out of the bullpen, with 43:9 strikeout to walk ratio in 24 innings pitched and a 1.88 ERA. The right-hander features a fastball that touches 95 MPH with tail and his main secondary pitch is his changeup that acts as a splitter. He has flown under the radar but he also deserves a call-up to Eugene with his performance this season.

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