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: High-A

Notable Performers

Kai-Wei Teng: 1 G, 1 GS, 1 W, 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K, 0.00 ERA
Seth Corry: 1 G, 1 GS, 4.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R (6 ER), 2 BB, 2 HBP, 9 K, 11.57 ERA
Chris Wright: 3 G, 1 W, 2 SV, 3.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R (3 ER), 3 BB, 5 K, 7.36 ERA

Even though Kai-Wei Teng is sporting a 4.74 ERA coming into this week, he has pitched much better than what the numbers would suggest. This week, Teng finally put it all together as he pitched his best start as an Emerald. Teng threw a career-high 95 pitches, 60 of which were strikes, and generated 18 swings and misses. With his track record of command and execution finally catching up to his improved velocity and sharper secondaries, he is in track to potentially finish as a top-15 prospect at season’s end.

On the other hand, Seth Corry tied his season-high in strikeouts with nine but unfortunately gave up a season-high six runs in his start this week. A friend of the site Kevin Cunningham was in Eugene to watch and write-up Corry’s start. He has noted that the Vancouver hitters had a plan against Corry: take pitches and let him put you on when he is in his windup and wait for fastballs and swing when there are runners on base. In 2019, it took Corry until after the All-Star break to finally zero in on his control. There’s still a possibility for him to turn his 2021 season around in the mid-season mark.

On the bullpen side, closer Chris Wright has allowed his first runs as an Emerald this week, but was still able to lock down a couple of victories. Throwing strikes was an issue for Wright but he has been a good strike thrower all season long. His unique stuff from the left side deserves consideration as a Top-30 prospect.