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SF Giants News: Top 3 non-roster minor league pitchers to follow in camp

By Jeff Young |
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The SF Giants published its list of non-roster invitees last week. While it includes a handful of the organization's top prospects, there are plenty of lesser-known intriguing players as well. We will start by looking at the non-roster minor league pitchers.

SF Giants News: Top 3 non-roster minor league pitchers to follow in camp

Of course, the Giants brought in a pair of experienced major league arms in Joe Ross and Sean Newcomb. They have had varying levels of success in the majors, and to an extent, are known players.

However, we are going to take a look at some of the lesser-known players. Typically, players with minimal major league experience who are not considered top prospects. The baseball season is a grind of 162 games and that organizational depth plays a huge role getting to the finish line.

The roster at the end of the season often looks way different than the Opening Day roster. This is due to a number of factors like promotions, demotions, trades, waiver claims, and injuries. So, the Giants have brought in 37 non-roster invitees who have some degree of a shot at being added to the active roster at some point in 2023.

1. Mauricio Llovera

Giants fans briefly saw Mauricio Llovera last year. The right-handed hurler posted a 4.41 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 1.34 WHIP, 11.0 K/9, and a 2.50 SO/W ratio. This was not his first stint in the majors.

Llovera appeared for Philadelphia Phillies in 2020 and 2021, tallying a 12.91 ERA in a brief sample of just seven appearances.

However, the Giants must have liked what they saw from the 26-year-old pitcher. With San Francisco, Llovera flashed a mid-90's sinker that generated plenty of ground balls as well as a slider that was tough on opposing hitters. Opposing hitters registered a .182 batting average against his slider in 2022. I think his command was better than what we saw as well.

He began the winter on the 40-man roster, but he was non-tendered and re-resigned with the club on a minor league deal.

Llovera will likely begin the season with the Sacramento River Cats. He pitched for them last year where he registered a 0.00 ERA (excuse me?), 0.85 WHIP, 12.6 K/9, and a 7.00 SO/W ratio across 20 Triple-A innings. If he continues to perform at that level, he will get another shot with the Giants in no time.

Seattle Mariners Summer Workouts
Seattle Mariners Summer Workouts / Abbie Parr/GettyImages

SF Giants News: Top 3 non-roster minor league pitchers to follow in camp

2. Sam Delaplane

Sam Delaplane has been one of the more intriguing arms in the Giants organization over the past couple of seasons. However, injuries have prevented him from making any type of impact.

The Giants claimed Delaplane midway through the 2021 season from the Seattle Mariners because of course they did. The Bay Area native underwent Tommy John surgery with the Mariners, but they did not want to pay him while he recovered from injury, so they cut him loose instead.

The Giants claimed him, added him to the active roster, and transferred him to the 60-day injured list. When they claimed him, they knew it was a move for 2022 or 2023. The Giants have done this same maneuver with Luis González and Colton Welker as well.

Prior to injury, the bullpen prospect flashed an impressive fastball-slider mix. The slider, in particular, drew rave reviews from Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs

"Delaplane also has a power, Brad Lidge-style slider with late, downward movement. He has less raw arm strength than the Nick Andersons of the world, but the stuff works in the same way, and I think Delaplane will be a reliever of rare quality once he returns from Tommy John, which should be in the middle of 2022"
Eric Longenhagen

Despite being a 23rd round pick in 2017, Delaplane was moving quickly up the Mariners minor league ladder while posting eye-opening numbers. He reached Double-A in 2019, registering a 0.49 ERA, .59 WHIP, 14.1 K/9, and a 6.44 SO/W ratio in 25 appearances.

Unfortunately, he has rarely seen the field in the past couple of seasons. He has made just four appearances since the start of 2020. Some of that was out of his control but if he can prove to be healthy, Delaplane could quickly make some noise in the minors if not sooner.

Baltimore Orioles v Miami Marlins
Baltimore Orioles v Miami Marlins / Rob Carr/GettyImages

SF Giants News: Top 3 non-roster minor league pitchers to follow in camp

3. Jorge Guzmán

Remember when the Giants almost traded for Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins? They got so close, but the power-hitting outfielder used his no-trade clause to be traded to the New York Yankees instead. The Yankees sent over three players including Starlin Castro, José Devers and Jorge Guzmán.

Including Castro was meant to offset a very small portion for what was remaining of Stanton's massive 13-year, $325 million contract. The Yankees added a couple of midlevel prospects as well.

Since the Yankees were taking on Stanton's salary, the prospects included were never expected to match the value that Stanton was going to produce.

That said, Guzmán was ranked as the No. 87 prospect in baseball according to Baseball America prior to the 2018 season. There was some prospect pedigree there but he never got an extended look with the Marlins.

Across seven minor league seasons, the 27-year-old pitcher has registered a 3.69 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 9.3 K/9, and a 2.01 SO/W ratio. The strikeout rate has improved to 11.7 K/9 in one seasons in Triple-A. However, Guzmán allowed eight earned runs in three appearances across two seasons with Miami.

In his brief stint with the Marlins, Guzmán did flash a mid-90's four-seam fastball. However, it came with subpar command. The righty posted a 3.63 ERA in 16 appearances with the Giants organization in 2022 but his command will need to show improvement.

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