SF Giants pitching prospects rundown (4/16 - 4/22)

SF Giants pitching prospects rundown (4/16 - 4/22)

Flying Squirrels Pitching Prospects

Matt Frisbee: 1 G (1 GS), 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 HBP, 0 BB, 4 K, 3.38 ERA
Tyler Schimpf: 1 G, 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 0.00 ERA
Solomon Bates: 1 G, 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 0.00 ERA

It was a little bit late but Matt Frisbee has made his 2022 debut this week and it was a strong debut all things considered. He's throwing a lot of strikes, and he's flashing command with his heater, slider and splitter. However, an old foe from last season, the long ball, has showed up this season as well. He's allowed an absurdly high 27 homers last season across two levels but it's definitely not yet the time to call it his Achilles heel.

Things can happen very quickly for a reliever. One bad outing here after a string of good performances and here you are sitting with a bad ERA and whatnot. Tyler Schimpf is an example of that. Last season, Schimpf had two appearances where he allowed a combined 11 total runs that skewed his numbers. However, he also struck out 36.5% of the total batters that he faced. This season, Schimpf's finding himself in a bit of a pickle as well with pretty rough numbers but he's still showing that nasty stuff that made him a strikeout machine last season with a fastball that can reach 97 MPH and a hammer curveball.

Capping off the Flying Squirrels rundown is Solomon Bates. Bates has been a bit weird in 2021 where he struggled with control with a 62% strike rate and a 4.6 BB/9. Looks like the Bates that we are used to coming back with a 67% strike rate and a 3.18 BB/9. He was commanding the fastball on the edges of the zone against Erie this week and he could throw it up to 95 MPH though he's still in the low-90s more often than not. His breaking ball also flashed well but it's really the fastball control that resulted in his strong start to the 2022 season with a 3.18 ERA, a 36.4% strikeout rate, and a 9.1% walk rate.

SF Giants pitching prospects rundown (4/16 - 4/22)

Emeralds Pitching Prospects

Brooks Crawford: 2 G (1 W), 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 0.00 ERA
Randy Rodriguez: 1 G (1 GS), 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R (1 ER), 2 HBP, 2 BB, 4 K, 3.38 ERA
Wil Jensen: 2 G (1 W), 4.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 7 K, 2.08 ERA

Let's start off with the standout pitcher of the week for the Emeralds: Brooks Crawford. Crawford was one of the better performing pitchers in the San Jose bullpen throughout
2021 with a 1.96 ERA in 46 innings pitched. His fastball sits in the low-90s that he pairs up with a decent,
late-breaking slider that he can throw in and out of the zone pretty consistently. It's tough to project him anywhere else aside from relief given his age and his arm action but he has been a performer for more than a year now and will likely do so once again this time for the Emeralds.

After talking about Kyle Harrison last week, let's talk more about Randy Rodriguez this week. After only topping out at 94 MPH in his first appearance, Rodriguez has been more like himself in his second one topping out at 96 MPH with his fastball. The nasty nature of his stuff is still there but the control has been way off with a 59% strike rate. It was evident in his start that he is missing his spots but has managed to pile on the strikeouts because of his sheer stuff rather than combining it with execution. Let's continue to follow this experiment as the weather becomes better in the Pacific Northwest.

Rounding out this Emeralds rundown is Wil Jensen who is off to a terrific start once again pitching as a piggyback starter/bulk relief guy for the Emeralds. Jensen was the most effective pitcher in the first half of last season for San Jose, even better than Kyle Harrison, but has gone off the rails in the second half of last season. Jensen was at his best this week where he threw strikes, executing his pitches very well where he set up a north-south approach with his fastball-curveball combo, and he's making hitters think about his changeup. It's a solid pitch mix that combined with strong control makes him a safe pitching prospect in the system.

SF Giants pitching prospects rundown (4/16 - 4/22)

SJ Giants Pitching Prospects

Trevor McDonald: 2 G, 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 0.00 ERA
Jose Cruz: 2 G (1W, 1 SV), 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 0.00 ERA
Manuel Mercedes: 1 G, 2 IP, 4 H, 4 R (3 ER), 4 BB, 1 K, 13.50 ERA

There will be a separate piece talking about my first impressions of the 2021 pitching class (should be out during the week) and it gives me the opportunity to talk about the other prospects in the insanely deep Giants squad.

Can we talk about how good Trevor McDonald is? This version of McDonald is nowhere near the McDonald that at least I have seen in his cup of coffee with San Jose late season where he was missing his spots every single time. This season just speaks for itself. Thrown in the same role that Randy Rodriguez occupied as their designated fireman/street sweeper/high-leverage guy, McDonald has delivered throughout the first two weeks with 7.2 scoreless innings, a 42% strikeout rate and just a 6.5% walk rate. Granted that he's still not exactly commanding the ball (or putting it where the catcher's mitt is at) but he's been much more in the zone more often (68% strike rate) and his stuff is good enough as it moves a lot to plainly destroy low-A hitters. I think he deserves top 30 prospect love and would do so in my now monthly rankings update in the first week of May.

It's been wild following Jose Cruz so far this season as he is legitimately wild. This week, though? He's flashed what he could become once his lanky levers are in sync with a dominating performance. Cruz established himself as a respectable relief prospect with his turbo sinker that tops out at 97 MPH from a sidearm slot and with some crossfire that gives him serious groundball rates (85.7% groundball rate this season) as well as deception. He also has a slider and a changeup to boot (he prefers his changeup right now it looks like). His strike-throwing is clearly a whack but when he is right (a nice 69% strike rate this week), he is as dominant of a reliever as they come. Let's continue to follow his progress because he has some serious big-league relief potential as long as the strike-throwing stays strong.

On the other side of the coin though, let's talk about Manuel Mercedes. Mercedes the pitcher and Mercedes the Formula One team has something in common: starting off 2022 on the wrong note. We're not here to talk about Formula One (though personally, I am a McLaren fan) but I'll point out two numbers for Mercedes this season (without context) first: 34.6 and 3.9. Guess which of those two is the strikeout rate. If you think it's the 34.6, you are incorrect as Mercedes actually has a 3.9% strikeout rate and a 34.6% walk rate to begin his 2022 season. His strike-throwing has been abysmal with just a 47% strike rate. It is clear by watching him that he's still super raw in his arm action. He's rotating too quickly and he is not finding his release point as a result. It might be best to push him back down in Arizona to sort his mechanics out there because based on what he's done so far, he's not ready yet for full-season ball.