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

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 25: An overview of the spring training game between the Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants at Scottsdale Stadium on February 25, 2019 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 25: An overview of the spring training game between the Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants at Scottsdale Stadium on February 25, 2019 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images) /
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SF Giants, SF Giants Prospects, Caleb Kilian
Jun 21, 2018; Omaha, NE, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders pitcher Caleb Kilian (32) throws against the Florida Gators in the first inning in the College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park. (Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports) /

SF Giants Prospects Weekly Rundown: Double-A

Notable Performers

Caleb Kilian: 2 G, 2 GS, 11.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R (3 ER), 1 BB, 11 K, 2.31 ERA
Patrick Ruotolo: 5 G, 1 W, 5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 9 K, 0.00 ERA
Jose Marte: 3 G, 1 W, 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R (1 ER), 3 BB, 7 K, 1.80 ERA

Another week, another Caleb Kilian dominant performance. The right-hander has kept the snowball rolling in his breakthrough season for the Flying Squirrels with a 2.14 ERA and a complimentary 2.22 FIP. If there is one thing to critique against Kilian, it’s that his strikeout rate is in decline recently and he now has less than a strikeout per inning in Double-A (58 Ks in 59 IP). His whiff rate for the Flying Squirrels is only 22.6%. Kilian’s still highly effective without having elite swing and miss stuff because he’s consistently inducing weak contact with his effective sequencing and an ever-improving cutter that compliments his tailing, mid-90s fastball.

For the bullpen, Patrick Ruotolo is having a strong season in the Flying Squirrels bullpen as one of their main late-inning arms. Ruotolo has been dominant this season with a 2.38 ERA with an absurd 32:3 strikeout to walk ratio in 22.2 innings pitched. The highly deceptive right-hander had Tommy John surgery sometime in 2019 and yet even though control is the last thing to return after the surgery, Ruotolo has a full-season career-best 3.6% walk rate while having a 30% whiff rate. He deserves a Triple-A promotion sometime this season.

The other notable reliever over the past two weeks is Jose Marte. The right-hander is one of the most impressive bullpen arms in the farm system at the moment, throwing his fastball up to 102 MPH while having a hard, low-90s slider. Among pitchers in full-season ball with at least 20 innings pitched, Marte has the best groundball rate with over 58% because of the intense sinking and tailing movement of his heater. I selected Kilian with my third pick and Marte with my last pick in the SF Giants Farm System Draft podcast so if you want to know the other selections that my other co-experts and I have selected, be sure to check it out!