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

Brett Auerbach

Auerbach made another play-of-the-year candidate behind the dish last season as an Emerald. Outside of that though, he's struggled massively offensively in Eugene and much more so with Richmond. His chase tendencies got exposed heavily last season and was struggling to hit for contact and power. His struggles might have affected his confidence throughout last season. Defensively though, he's still shown that he can be an asset by playing multiple positions while showcasing his good athleticism.

Victor Bericoto (#25 prospect)

Bericoto had a massive breakout in 2023, leading all Giants hitters in a number of offensive categories. His raw power is clearly at least plus, and has shown the ability to hit the ball out of the park more consistently this year thanks to a shift to his swing path. He made his swing path slightly more uphill to induce more flyballs but did not entirely result in a total breakdown of his overall approach.

His eye at the plate is still solid even though there is some inherent over-aggression. His defense in the outfield is below-average with a lack of range and instincts but makes up for it with a strong arm. He has shown the ability to play first base with big-league potential but the bat will certainly carry his value.

Hunter Bishop

Bishop missed the entire 2023 season while he recovered after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He's played this spring, and while there were some rough spots, particularly struggling with his reads in left field, the most important thing is that he's shown that he is fully healthy once again. The swing surely needs more work but he had a feel-good moment in the few games that he's played when he laced a single to left field in one of his plate appearances and drove one to the warning track in another.

Vaun Brown (#24 prospect)

Brown's issues were exposed in 2023, leaving plenty of doubt regarding his overall potential. His athleticism is still prominent with plus-plus raw power and speed. However, injuries resulted in him struggling to find a groove on both sides of the ball. His bat speed is still like last season but he kept on expanding the zone unnecessarily, resulting in plenty of strikeouts and bad performance.

Damon Dues

Dues was one of the most unheralded prospects in the Giants farm system last season and deserves more love with his fascinating skillset. He was never known for his power, but he put his good speed to use. He's adept at taking the extra base and has shown great base-stealing instincts. He's also shown a good approach at the batter's box alongside a solid feel for the barrel. He can play in both middle infield positions as well was the outfield and can even pitch on a pinch.

Jimmy Glowenke

Glowenke led the team in several offensive categories last season when he got promoted to the squad while maintaining a healthy strikeout and walk rates. He looked closer to his college self than in his earlier days as a pro in the second half of the season with Richmond. He's consistently made solid contact, showed good approach, and was a fine defender at second base. He's also dabbled with playing at third base this spring so there is a possibility that we will see him play there.