SF Giants pitching prospects week in review (7/25-7/31)

SF Giants Prospects Weekly Rundown: High-A

Notable Performers

Kai-Wei Teng: 1 G, 1 GS, 1 W, 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K, 0.00 ERA
Taylor Rashi: 2 G, 1 W, 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 0.00 ERA
Chris Wright: 2 G, 1 W, 1 SV, 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 0.00 ERA

After a little over a month, Kai-Wei Teng finally twirled in a scoreless start for the Emeralds this week, with five shutout innings of two-hit ball. His prospect stock took a massive nosedive after pitching to the tune of 10.80 ERA in five starts from June 27 to July 21 and has only thrown 56% of his pitches for strikes. He’s lost the feel to finish off hitters over the stretch even though he’s still inducing whiffs with a 31.1% whiff rate. Hopefully, this start is the beginning of the upswing for Teng towards a strong finish to the season.

Out of the bullpen, Taylor Rashi had a dominant week capped off by a dominant performance against the Aqua Sox where all six outs came via the strikeout. The right-hander has a 7.1 inning scoreless streak with 13 strikeouts and just three baserunners allowed. The 2019 23rd round selection out of UC-Irvine has plenty of deception with his funky mechanics where even though he does not hinge well in his back leg well, it results in a slight crossfire and an over-the-top release point which gives his low-to-mid 90s fastball and curveball extra effectiveness.

Speaking of scoreless streaks, Emeralds closer Chris Wright is currently on a 12.1 innings scoreless streak that has already spanned a month of action with 14 strikeouts. He is still generating a good whiff rate of 35.8% but it is below the absurd 52% that he posted in his first 14 appearances. The walks have also been an issue for the left-hander with a 16.4% walk rate in his scoreless streak. Wright is still an awesome reliever having a breakout season, but he needs a good finish to be considered a true top 30 prospects.