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

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.