SF Giants pitching prospects week in review (7/11-7/24)

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.

Because of the midseason MVPs post last week, this week’s weekly rundown will cover the past two weeks of action.

SF Giants Prospects Weekly Rundown: Triple-A

Notable Performers

Norwith Gudino: 2 G, 1 W, 4 H, 2 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 9 K, 1.50 ERA
Kervin Castro: 3 G, 2 W, 7.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R (4 ER), 2 BB, 14 K, 4.70 ERA
Matt Frisbee: 2 G, 2 GS, 10.2 IP, 17 H, 7 R (7 ER), 4 BB, 15 K, 5.91 ERA

One of the breakout relievers in the system is Norwith Gudino. The 25-year old was a starter prior to this season but with middling results. When the Giants converted him to a full-time bullpen arm, Gudino started to shine. His numbers in Richmond were very impressive, with a 1.44 ERA and 39 strikeouts to just 10 walks in 25 innings of work. What’s more amazing is that he has a 42.6% whiff rate. His whiff rate in Sacramento is only at 28.2% across three outings and he had a rough debut, but he’s righted the ship with a 31.4% whiff rate in his two outings in the past two weeks. He generates a very high amount of whiffs due to his plus fastball that sits in the 94-97 MPH range, hard slider, and a nasty splitter.

Kervin Castro‘s scoreless inning streak ended at 14.2 innings pitched and has hit a bit of a hiccup, but pitched his best outing this season in his latest appearance, pitching three spotless innings of work with six strikeouts. He induced 10 whiffs on his latest outing and his curveball was spot on. Castro is could potentially be a part of some package deals as the trade deadline comes closer, but he could be a primary option to pitch in the Giants bullpen this season.

Matt Frisbee has been a big victim of the long ball since getting promoted to Sacramento as the right-hander already allowed 15 big flies in just 44 innings of work after giving up three more big flies over the past two weeks. He has the swing and miss stuff rolling recently, with a 31.3% whiff rate in his last three starts. Frisbee now has 38 strikeouts in Triple-A.

SF Giants Prospects Weekly Rundown: High-A

Notable Performers

Solomon Bates: 3 G, 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 7 K, 3.60 ERA
Austin Reich: 4 G, 10 IP, 7 H, 3 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 10 K, 2.70 ERA
Ryan Walker: 4 G, 4.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 3 K, 1.93 ERA

With the rotation having a collective ERA of 7.79 over the past two weeks spanning 12 starts with the lowest ERA belonging to Nick Avila with a 4.35 ERA, we are going back to the best relievers. The first standout reliever over the past two weeks is Solomon Bates. Excluding his rough outing when he allowed six earned runs in a spot start on July 10, he has a 2.00 ERA this month with 10 strikeouts, five of which came in his most recent outing where he pitched two spotless innings. The 2018 eighth-round selection has been below-average this season with a 5.40 ERA, but his recent form could be an indication of something better.

The transition from Low-A to High-A ball has been seamless for Austin Reich. An undrafted free agent signee in 2019, the right-hander from Northwestern State has been dominant this season across two levels, with 63 strikeouts in 39 innings of work with a 1.85 ERA. He manages to induce a 39.3% whiff rate thanks to his mid-90s fastball, a solid changeup, and a breaking ball, and he throws all three pitches consistently for strikes with an attack mentality. He’s been one of the best sleeper relievers in the farm system this year.

Speaking of sleepers, Ryan Walker has been dominant for the Emeralds in their bullpen all season long with a 2.23 ERA with a 45:5 strikeout to walk ratio in 32.1 innings of work. The 25-year old induces plenty of weak contact and a 32.3% whiff rate this season with his highly deceptive, extreme crossfire delivery that allows his low-90s sinker and slider to play up. I’ve been saying this for the past couple of months now: he deserves a Double-A promotion before the end of the season.

SF Giants Prospects Weekly Rundown: Low-A

Notable Performers

Prelander Berroa: 3 G, 3 GS, 16.2 IP, 10 H, 2 R (1 ER), 4 BB, 23 K, 0.54 ERA
Ryan Murphy: 2 G, 2 GS, 12 IP, 9 H, 4 R (4 ER), 2 BB, 22 K, 3.00 ERA
Kyle Harrison: 3 G, 3 GS, 13 IP, 14 H, 10 R (7 ER), 6 BB, 16 K, 4.85 ERA

There are two standout pitchers for the San Jose squad this week. First is Prelander Berroa. He has pitched his finest outing as a professional, throwing six innings of one-hit, shutout baseball with no walks and nine strikeouts where he retired the final 16 batters that he faced. Berroa is in incredible form heading to the summer, with a 1.60 ERA in his last six starts while striking out 42 hitters in 33.2 IP. He’s flashing command with his high-90s fastball and his vertical-breaking slider has flashed above-average at its very best. He deserves a spot inside the top 30 prospects of the mid-season.

Another standout pitcher over the past two weeks is Ryan Murphy. The right-hander is on a roll this month, where he struck out double-digit batters in all of his four July starts with a 2.16 ERA. He’s nicely thrown 69% of his pitches for strikes this month and has a 37% whiff rate. Murphy has now taken the Low-A West strikeout lead away from his teammate Carson Ragsdale with 105 punchouts in 70 innings. The 2020 fifth-round draftee is turning out to be a serious prospect with top 30 potential if he finishes strong.

On the other side of the spectrum, the 2020 third-rounder Kyle Harrison has struggled in his last two starts as he failed to pitch past the fourth inning. He’s still inducing swings and misses with his stuff at a 35.2% whiff rate but has struggled to locate his mid-90s fastball for strikes as he’s getting under the ball often. The talented lefty has how thrown close to 1,100 pitches in his first pro season as the Giants coaches are monitoring his workload late in the season, failing to throw over 80 pitches in his last two starts of the season.

SF Giants Prospects Weekly Rundown: Rookie

Notable Performers

Esmerlin Vinicio: 2 G, 2 GS, 9 IP, 6 H, 5 R (3 ER), 6 BB, 14 K, 3.00 ERA
Jesus Tona: 2 G, 1 W, 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 0.00 ERA
Jose Rojas: 2 G, 2 GS, 1 W, 10 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K, 0.00 ERA
Mikell Manzano: 1 G, 1 GS, 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 8 K, 1.80 ERA

Left-hander Esmerlin Vinicio twirled his best outing as a professional so far in his latest start, pitching five innings of two-run (both unearned) baseball with only one walk and a career-best nine strikeouts. Vinicio has the strikeout stuff with a high-80s fastball, rainbow curveball, and a solid changeup, but control has been the issue for him in the early part of complex ball with 15 walks in 17.1 innings pitch prior to his latest start.

Jesus Tona is in some sort of rehab stint in the Arizona backfields, likely due to an injury. Nevertheless, the deceptive right-hander is looking ready to handle once more the rigors of full-season ball. Where would he be assigned is the biggest question. He only touches low-90s with his fastball but he generates a good number of whiffs along with his tumbling changeup that he tunnels well with his heater.

Down in the Dominican, both Jose Rojas and Mikell Manzano are off to good starts in their professional career. While Manzano has not pitched since his professional debut, a source told me before the season started that Manzano is one of the best pitchers in the DSL Giants squad that was reinforced when international scouting director Joe Salermo mentioned Manzano as one of the prospects to watch in the Dominican backfields in his guest appearance on friend of the site Roger Munter’s podcast. While there is limited information on both Rojas and Manzano’s pitch arsenal and mechanics at the moment, the most important thing to watch is their peripherals and so far, both have been doing well.

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