Pop-up SF Giants bullpen prospect joins Bryce Eldridge in Triple-A

The SF Giants promoted Bryce Eldridge to Triple-A earlier this week, but that was not the only notable move. Hard-throwing bullpen prospect Trent Harris joined him on the journey, per the team's transaction log.

Pop-up SF Giants bullpen prospect joins Bryce Eldridge in Triple-A

Roger Munter of There R Giants was the first to report this move. The Giants had a lot of movement in the minors this week. Victor Bericoto was reassigned to the Richmond Flying Squirrels after completing a rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League. Ian Villers moved up to Richmond, whereas Justin Wishkoski moved down to the Eugene Emeralds.

Harris has quickly and quietly emerged as one of the team's better pitching prospects. The Giants have a lot of young pitching, but he has stood out with his performance.

The hard-throwing reliever was originally signed as an undrafted free agent in 2023 out of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Interestingly, Harris and Bo Davidson were signed in the same summer by part-time scout Paul Faulk. Faulk now works with the Kansas City Royals.

Harris breezed through the lower minors last season, flashing a good combination of control and stuff that tends to overpower in those leagues. He posted a 1.81 ERA with 105 strikeouts and 25 walks in 79.2 innings split across three levels. The bulk of his work came with the San Jose Giants and Emeralds, but he did appear briefly with Richmond at the end of the year.

By that point, Harris had established himself as a pitcher to watch in the Giants system. It was a mild surprise that he did not receive a camp invite this spring.

The right-handed reliever returned to Richmond this season, and recorded a 1.69 ERA with 25 strikeouts and only four walks in 16 innings before earning a promotion. His introduction to Triple-A did not go as smoothly, as he yielded three earned runs across 0.2 frames in his debut with the Sacramento River Cats on Wednesday.

On the mound, Harris throws a mid-90's four-seam fastball that rides and carries through the zone. He has a good feel it, and commands it up in the zone. He mixes in a big, 12-to-6 curveball that he uses to generate swinging strikes and as chase pitch out of the zone. Harris also throws a hard slider that sits in the mid 80's with two-plane movement. He will add an occasional chanegup as well.

The Giants used him as a multi-inning reliever last season, but he has been deployed as a traditional reliever this season. They did lightly consider stretching him out as a starter, but that has not come to fruition yet. Given that he is in his age-26 season, Harris could become an option quickly for the Giants if he performs in Sacramento.

The Giants have the best bullpen in baseball with a 2.38 ERA, so there are not many openings at the moment. Once a spot opens up, Harris along with a couple arms on the 40-man roster could be in consideration.