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

Make sure to revisit our weekly SF Giants prospect rundowns to keep up with each of the organization’s minor-league affiliates.

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

If you do not feel well acclimated to the prospects throughout the farm system, you might want to revisit this year's Prospect Week articles (specifically the SF Giants 2022 prospects depth chart) or purchase the 2022 SF Giants Prospects Primer filled with scouting reports of 150 San Francisco Giants prospects from the best of the best to the unheard-of prospects. If you’re just interested in the biggest names, then the four-part2022 pre-season top 30 prospects ranking and the thought process behind the ranking is the one-stop-shop for you.

I'm here this week to talk about mostly the under-the-radar pitching prospects in the system to raise more awareness about them.

River Cats Pitching Prospects

Notable Performers

Michael Plassmeyer: 2 G (2 GS), 10.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R (2 ER), 1 HBP, 4 BB, 12 K, 1.74 ERA
Joey Marciano: 2 G, 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 0.00 ERA
Patrick Ruotolo: 1 G, 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K

Michael Plassmeyer earned his first appearance on the weekly rundowns with two strong outings this week that helped brought down his ERA from 5.00 to a respectable 3.26. After a good amount of starts, a couple of particularly interesting bits could be deduced after looking at his Statcast data. The first is the below-average movement (both horizontal and vertical) with his sinker relative to velocity. The best sinkers will get up to 30 inches of vertical movement (or drop) and up to 18.5 inches of horizontal movement (or tail) at around 89 MPH. Plassmeyer only gets up to around 18 inches of drop and around 14 inches of tail. He compensates for it with a 5.5-foot release height though his release point was inconsistent before his latest start.

After Plassmeyer comes a couple of relievers who deserve to get love for their start of this season. The first is Joey Marciano. Marciano came out of the gates blazing hot like last season with Richmond as he already struck out seven out of the 26 batters that he faced. The one thing that was different from Marciano to last season is the strike-throwing where his control is a bit similar to his 2019 form rather than last season's form. Nonetheless, he's still throwing into the high-90s with his heater and is proving to be a potential call-up candidate if ever the Giants need a lefty although I could not really see it yet this season.

The second reliever is Patrick Ruotolo. Ruotolo has been a favorite of mine ever since he was drafted by the Giants back in 2016 as a reliever that can throw a good number of strikes while having a very deceptive, Lincecum-esque delivery. He's now received the AAA call and he struck out three hitters in his first two innings of work as a River Cat. The now 27-year old has struck out 10 of the 16 batters that he's faced this year while only allowing two of them to reach via base on balls. I am hoping that he will receive the call to the big leagues sometime in the middle of the season.

Finally, I want to cap this with a Yunior Marte message. It's very nice to see him succeed in the Majors after flying under the radar throughout last season because he's been a good reliever last season with a 3.49 ERA, a strong 9.85 K/9 and a 3.65 BB/9, and pumping the heater into the high-90s. Let's hope he will be a staple of the Giants bullpen corps throughout the season.