SF Giants pitching prospects rundown (4/30 - 5/6)

SF Giants pitching prospects rundown (4/30 - 5/6)

Flying Squirrels Pitching Prospects

Kai-Wei Teng: 1 G (1 GS), 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 1 HBP, 1 BB, 9 K, 3.00 ERA
Solomon Bates: 2 G, 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, 0.00 ERA
Blake Rivera: 2 G, 4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 7 K, 3.86 ERA

Leading off the Flying Squirrels rundown is Kai-Wei Teng with probably his best outing of the season where he went a season-high in both innings (six) and strikeouts (nine). Teng has been a very weird prospect because he finally has a pitch that should make him a big leaguer in his slider but his control regressed to a point where he is going to be a reliever in the long term. His fastball control has been on and off and he definitely needs to tweak his mechanics, particularly his lower half, to hopefully regain that lost fastball control.

The pitcher that has impressed me the most because of his development this season is Solomon Bates. The 25-year-old has been impressive with a 1.15 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 15.2 innings pitched this season. I have been impressed with the shape that he's in physically and the way he worked on his stuff, particularly his breaking ball that has looked solid-average at times. His fastball has reached up to 95 MPH at times with some rising action and has flashed command with it though his control recently regressed a bit.

The final pitcher that we are going to take a look at is Blake Rivera. Rivera has not looked untouchable on the mound so far this season but he's flashed some stinginess against righties with a .179 batting average against them. Rivera still has the stuff to make it to the big leagues with his fastball that can run to the mid-90s pairing up his hammer curveball but with the vast number of relief prospects in the organization and only a certain number of relievers that could be carried in the big league roster, the road is going to be tough for Rivera.

SF Giants pitching prospects rundown (4/30 - 5/6)

Emeralds Pitching Prospects

Nick Swiney: 1 G (1 GS), 5.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K, 0.00 ERA
Cole Waites: 3 G, 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 0.00 ERA
Nick Avila: 3 G (3 SV), 3 IP, 3 H, 2 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 2 K, 6.00 ERA
Kyle Harrison: 1 G (1 GS), 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 10 K, 0.00 ERA

It was only a matter of time until Nick Swiney put it all together after he struggled to throw strikes last month. Swiney, Cole Waites, and Nick Avila threw a combined no-hitter when the calendar flipped to May against Tri-City. Swiney was essentially lights out from the get-go and the relief duo followed suit. When I watched Swiney last April, the execution was still there but he was missing on the edges with his pitches and he was catching a bit too much of the plate with his changeup. Swiney has to live on the edges with his fastball however as the radar gun registered his fastball in the high-80s more often than not.

Speaking of the bullpen duo, Waites and Avila have performed well over the past couple of weeks. Even though Waites brings the heat, Avila has actually been the closer for the Emeralds this season earning a perfect five for five in save opportunities. The 24-year-old righty from Long Beach State has been deadly this season with a 2.79 ERA, a career-high 10.2 K/9 and a career-low 1.86 BB/9. Avila can throw his fastball up to 95 MPH with a big near-12-6 curveball and has always been a good strike-thrower throughout his pro career while having a distinct throwing motion.

Waites has been lights out as well where he has not given up a run in seven straight appearances out of the bullpen, often in high-leverage situations, while striking out 14 and walking just two batters in 6.2 innings pitched. I have seen improvements in Waites' slider to make it a viable second pitch as his fastball that tops out in the triple-digits is just straight-up overpowering as long as he throws enough strikes and throws enough strikes Waites does.

To cap things off, let's talk about the top prospect in the farm system and that's Kyle Harrison. Let's talk about his strikeout numbers first. The lefty has struck out double-digit batters in consecutive starts, bringing his strikeout rate to a mind-bending 52.5%. If that is not clear, Kyle Harrison has struck out more than half of the batters that he's faced.

The second is let's talk about his season so far. Removing his worst outing of the season against the Canadiens as he pitched through sickness (flu/cold, you know bad Pacific Northwest weather taking its toll), here is his stat line:

17 IP, 9 H, 6 BB, 37 K, 0.53 ERA, 56.1% strikeout rate, 41.8% whiff rate, 9.1% walk rate, 63.6% strike thrown rate

Yes, the strike-throwing numbers have been league average for Harrison but the difference in terms of execution and general control for Harrison this season compared to last season has been night and day. He has not missed much in terms of where the catcher wants the ball and where the ball ends up, and he has not lost all of his control in any at-bat so far this season (when he's not sick, of course). If there was a critique that I must point out, it's that I want to see the changeup thrown more to get more confidence out of it. Like performance does not even matter anymore for me, it's already there. I want to see Harrison develop that third pitch that you expect to see from a potential ace.

SF Giants pitching prospects rundown (4/30 - 5/6)

SJ Giants Pitching Prospects

Eric Silva: 2 G (2 GS), 7 IP, 4 H, 4 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 10 K, 3.86 ERA
Mason Black: 1 G (1 GS), 4 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 0.00 ERA
Nick Sinacola: 1 G, 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 HBP, 1 BB, 6 K, 0.00 ERA
Trevor McDonald: 2 G, 4.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 5 K, 1.93 ERA

I have been ranking Eric Silva aggressively ever since he got drafted by the Giants because I see the talent and the potential. An easy counter-argument for it is pointing out his 4.91 ERA this season. However, the peripherals will tell you otherwise. His xFIP, the best stat in predicting future performance right now, is almost two points lower at 2.96. Silva has been exceptional this season as he is getting stretched more as the season wore on with his pitch count increased to 60. If there is a critique of Silva that I have it's actually his strike-throwing as he tends to lose his control entirely on an at-bat similar to Kyle Harrison last season. Nonetheless, Silva is an awesome pitching prospect.

Like Eric Silva, Mason Black has been cruising this week with another strong pitching performance. The mustachioed just keeps on delivering start after start with traits that you like to see from a pitching prospect such as velocity (93-98 MPH on the fastball), nasty stuff (36.4% strikeout rate and 31% whiff rate), promising strike-throwing (6.5% walk rate and 64% strike rate), and a penchant for generating groundballs (58.1% groundball rate and 2.27 groundball/flyball ratio).

I think we have identified who are the pitching prospects from the 2021 draft class to look out for and Nick Sinacola is right in the thick of things. Sinacola's numbers this season have been very impressive with a 1.83 ERA, 2.73 xFIP, 8.8% walk rate, and a 40% strikeout rate. His latest outing is particularly impressive because he induced a season-high 17 whiffs and a second-highest 14 called strikes against Stockton hitting. He's continuing to impress with his strong three-pitch mix consisting of his low-90s fastball, gyro slider, and tumbling splitter.

Capping off this week is Trevor McDonald with another strong relief appearance out of the bullpen. McDonald has kept up his strong 2022 and the way that his peripherals held up (34.8% strikeout rate, 6.1% walk rate) has been impressive. McDonald's been exceptional out of the bullpen and there could be talks that he could potentially be thrusted to a starting pitcher role a la Randy Rodriguez next season. The stuff looks the part and the control is good enough to do so.