Everything SF Giants fans need to know about the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels

The Richmond Flying Squirrels embarks on another season in the Eastern League in 2024. This year's roster is not as loaded as compared to the past couple of seasons that featured the biggest prospects in the SF Giants farm system in the Farhan Zaidi era, but its depth is still quite impressive and should make it a contender. Its pitching staff is one of the deepest among all Giants affiliates but the outfield talent and depth is the best with many prospects with talent and name recognition.

Everything SF Giants fans need to know about the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels

Dennis Pelfrey continues to lead the charge as the Flying Squirrels manager for the third straight season with all of the important personnel returning. The only additions are athletic trainer Tim Vigue who came via Eugene and strength and conditioning coach Michelle Kuda who came via San Jose. They shall lead the squad that has once again serious playoff aspirations but development should still be in the utmost priority as several of the prospects in the squad are looking to potentially reach the Majors in the next couple of seasons.

Prospects in the IL

Michael Stryffeler
Nick Zwack

Pitchers

John Michael Bertrand

Bertrand was a reliable presence in, San Jose, Eugene, and Richmond rotations last season. He served as some sort of a "veteran" presence for the pitching staff due to his relatively old age for the level. He has average control of his stuff with a low-90s sinker, a mid-80s slider, and a changeup that he throws from a 3/4 arm slot.

Hayden Birdsong (#12 prospect)

Birdsong soared through the ladder last season as he morphed into a potential mid-rotation starter. His fastball sits in the 92-97 mph range with good ride and some run from a high 3/4 slot. His best secondary pitch is his 81-85 mph slider with plenty of depth and some sweep that generates plenty of whiffs. His high-70s curveball is still a weapon that he generates good whiffs while his high-80s changeup needs work but flashes average at its very best. He needs to work on smoothening the edges, particularly his fastball control, but he has a prototypical power pitcher profile.

Jose Cruz

Cruz was one of the most volatile relievers in the Giants farm system last season, striking out a lot of batters but also giving up a lot of walks. His struggles stemmed from a worse fastball control while still retaining its 92-96 mph velocity from a low 3/4 arm slot. His inability to throw his fastball for consistent strikes hurt his mid-80s changeup's effectiveness. He also has yet to have a consistent pitch that moves glove-side (e.g. a slider) to become a weapon against righties.

Matt Frisbee

Frisbee continued to have a reduced role last season after crashing and burning in the second half of 2022. He still had some substantial role but was mainly limited to middle relief or as a set-up man. He's struggled to garner much strikeouts as well as limiting his walks with his low-90s fastball, slider, and changeup/splitter combination.

Nick Garcia

The Giants acquired Garcia in the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 draft from the Rockies. One fun note is that Garcia was acquired by the Rockies from the Pirates in a trade involving former Giant Connor Joe. He struggled mightily as a starter last season and they prompted him to move to more bullpen duties towards the end of last season. He has a fastball that touches 96 mph and a mid-80s slider and changeup. One of his issues is the lack of deception in his delivery allowing hitters to barrel his relatively good stuff much more often.

Everything SF Giants fans need to know about the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels

Pitchers (continued)

Clay Helvey

Helvey regressed mightily last season in Sacramento which resulted in him getting demoted back to Richmond where he did not get much better. The situation was slightly akin to what happened with Matt Frisbee with him struggling to get hitters to whiff on his fastball that can reach up to 96 mph and a solid curveball. He's also struggled to throw strikes in the small ABS of the PCL.

Wil Jensen

Jensen was another one of the reliable arms that the Flying Squirrels relied upon last season be it in the rotation or the bullpen. He relied upon his pitch-to-contact skills with his low-90s fastball, curveball, and changeup. A bit of a vanilla operation but he's been effective as a reliable innings-eater in the places that he pitched.

Tanner Kiest

Kiest spent the last season with the Giants after signing a Minor League contract before the 2023 ACL season started and pitched in Eugene to finish his first Minor League season since 2018. His fastball plays up in the strike zone where it can reach 96 mph at its best due to his quite deceptive delivery with a good tempo and a lower-than-usual arm slot. His mid-80 slider features plenty of frisbee sweeping movement where he can be a menace against righties.

Ryan Murphy (#29 prospect)

When healthy, Murphy has as good of a chance at sticking in a rotation role out of any pitching prospect in the organization. His fastball tops out at 95 mph and has sat in the low 90s for most of the season. It's been a hittable pitch throughout his Double-A stint going back to last year so he has to spot it in the zone to succeed accurately. His slider evolved to a harder and better offering, now a mid-80s offering with a tighter break. He also has a high-80s cutter now that he throws with confidence. His changeup is still decent while his curveball has been sparingly thrown now. His control can be on and off but when healthy have shown good pitchability and good strike-throwing.

Tyler Myrick

Myrick was straight up one of the best relievers in baseball from a performance standpoint and is looking to build upon his dominant 2023 for a potential big-league shot this season. The fastball still touches 96 mph with a four-seam and two-seam variety where he generates plenty of backspin with the four-seamer that hitters struggle to catch up to it up in the zone. The high-80s slider is also a legitimate strikeout pitch for him as velocity is the biggest dictator of success with the pitch. He can also vary the tempo of his windup to even catch hitters off guard.

Mat Olsen

Olsen has a herky-jerky motion with a great tempo and was able to extend his body so forward from the rubber that it helped his fastball "look" faster. Even though in actuality, the fastball velocity is likely only in the 91-96 mph range. The hard, low-80s curveball also looked good for his other primary pitch. He improved his strike-throwing last season and will look to build upon what is a strong bounce-back 2023.

Carson Ragsdale

Ragsdale was the best pitcher in the Emeralds staff in the early months of last season once Whisenhunt was promoted. Unfortunately, he was shut down due to injury at the end of May. He still flashed the combination of great stuff thanks to his low-to-mid-90s fastball, a cutter that he recently added, and a knee-buckling curveball while also having a great feel for the zone. He could easily move through the system.

Eric Silva

Silva was poised to take the next step in his development but took several steps back, particularly with his control, which resulted in him pitching his final outings out of the bullpen. If what he has shown this spring is an indication though where he was constantly hitting 95 and up to 97 mph with his fastball which was in line with his 2022 self this spring, then a major bounceback year might be happening.

Nick Swiney

Swiney was pretty impressive when he was in Richmond last season but was roughed up pretty badly when he got promoted to Sacramento. He's a junkballer with high-80s velocity in his fastball but greatly favors throwing his changeup and curveball much more to hide his now below-average velocity. The control is also an issue with him throwing so many secondaries, or primaries in his case.

Everything SF Giants fans need to know about the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels

Position players (continued)

Carter Howell

Howell was tasked to fill up the Meckler-sized hole in the outfield when the latter was called up to Double-A in the middle of last season. He's had a stellar campaign with San Jose before holding his own against High-A pitching. His swing might be a bit unorthodox and not conducive to hitting for power but he's able to squeeze the most out of his strengths on the field. He's a good contact hitter with gap-to-gap power along with plus speed on the basepaths and on the outfield where he's shown that he's a capable center fielder.

Christian Koss

The Giants swung a minor trade with the Red Sox for Koss on Opening Day. Koss was once ranked in the top 30 prospects rankings of both the Rockies and the Red Sox farm system before struggling with his health and performance last season. He's displayed solid power potential throughout his professional career with the exception of last season where his overall numbers have been down. He has the speed and the arm strength to play both middle infield positions and has dabbled with playing in the outfield. Expect him to be a versatile player for the Flying Squirrels.

Grant McCray (#17 prospect)

McCray continued to demonstrate his high-risk, high-ceiling profile last season with Eugene. He's displayed his big-league quality defense at center field with plus-plus raw speed providing him the range, natural instincts, and at least an above-average arm strength. He is also quite aggressive on the base paths and has shown improvement as a base stealer, able to steal bases with high volume and good efficiency. Offensively, he's known to be a streaky hitter but was more apparent last season with big stretches of bad hitting. He struggles with high fastballs with his upper-cut swing and is prone to chase. He's shown quite surprising power potential in the past though how consistently can he tap it with his hit tool is the biggest question.

Dilan Rosario

Rosario is an interesting inclusion to the roster to due his playing only five games beyond Low-A San Jose so far in his pro career. His play in San Jose last season has not lit up the world on fire. The visible physical improvements on his frame could result in more pop in his bat though but his overall approach and contact skills are fringy at best. He can play the middle infield positions but was moved all around the field on defense with solid speed.

Adrian Sugastey (#26 prospect)

Sugastey has remained pretty much the same for the past three seasons profile-wise. He's still a contact-over-power hitter even though he has at least above-average raw power. He makes plenty of contact while having a solid sense of the strike zone though he heavily relies on putting the ball in play to generate his value. His defense behind the plate is still great with a strong arm, good framing skills, and overall fundamentals. He could look stiff at times but he looked rock steady for the past two years now. He's a low-ceiling, high-floor backup catcher.

Andy Thomas

Thomas was an interesting experiment throughout the season as a lefty bat who fits the mold that the Giants really like. He played behind the plate, was great at controlling the strike zone, and showed some power. He was swinging his lefty bat as hard as he could while also being a solid defender behind the dish.

Luis Toribio

Toribio continued to display his power potential in Eugene last season but has once again struggled to contain his strikeouts down. His overall performance last season though was a bit better compared to 2022 but it was still far from ideal. He plays in both corner infield spots but his lack of feel for playing the hot corner even though he has the arm strength to do so will limit him to playing at first, where he's looked average throughout the past two seasons.

Will Wilson

Wilson struggled to find a consistent positive performance last season in both Double-A and Triple-A. He's continued to show fringy power but his contact ability is below average and his eye at the plate can be suspect. He has continued to play at shortstop and he looks like he can play the part but his lack of range and pure oomph on his right arm limits his place in the dirt. They continue to trot him at the position but it would be best to move him to a more forgiving defensive position.

Logan Wyatt

Wyatt proved that he could tap into his power last season without hampering his walk and strikeout rates too much last season in Eugene. He is not the best of athletes but his feel for the strike zone is one of the best in the organization but he does not have the best swing speed. He is a big athlete though with a great physique. It limits his position on the field to first base or to a DH though where he is quite stiff but the glove is average.