New SF Giants top pitching prospect came courtesy of the Alex Cobb trade

MLB released its new prospect rankings for teams recently and the SF Giants have a new top pitching prospect in Jacob Bresnahan. The Giants acquired him in the Alex Cobb trade back in 2024 from the Cleveland Guardians as that deal just continues to look better and better for the Giants.

Bresnahan jumped up to the No. 8 spot on the list as he moves up three spots from last year. He leap-frogged Carson Whisenhunt who was considered the top pitching prospect in the organization in last year's rankings.

Bresnahan is young but has a ton of potential

Bresnahan is just 20 years old and is a Washington native. The Giants have done pretty good with young pitchers who hail from Washington over the years (i.e. Tim Lincecum) and Bresnahan definitely has a ton of upside.

Last season with the San Jose Giants he started 22 games and had a 2.61 ERA in 93 innings pitched. He earned Pitcher of the Week honors last season also had 124 strikeouts in that span with one impressive outing where he punched out seven batters in less than four innings of work.

He's a tall lefty at 6-foot-4 with a mid-90s fastball and solid changeup. His breaking ball still needs a little bit of work but he has plenty of tools which should allow him to progress through the minors quite well.

Bresnahan is not expected to debut for the Giants until 2028 so pump the brakes on buying a jersey. But it's hard not to get excited about the promise that he brings to the table.

Some of the other top pitching prospects in the organization are Blade Tidwell, acquired in the Tyler Rogers trade with the New York Mets last season, who comes in at No. 10 overall. Keyner Martinez, a hard-throwing right-hander, comes in at No. 11. Whisenhunt is still right there at No. 12 but after five up-and-down starts with the Giants last season and some rough showings so far in spring training his stock seems to be falling a bit.

The other players the Giants acquired from the Guardians in exchange for Cobb, infielder Nate Furman, has looked pretty good in spring training so far. He doesn't seem like he will be a starter someday, but he has the makings of a solid utility player.

Bresnahan is now the top pitching prospect in the system so the Giants have to feel good about that Cobb trade especially since the veteran only pitched the rest of 2024 and has been shut down due to injury ever since.