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

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 (4/30 - 5/6)

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-part 2022 pre-season top 30 prospects ranking and the thought process behind the ranking is the one-stop-shop for you.

With the SF Giants top 30 prospects update, I will be skipping the final week of action in terms of the stat line but still talk about the past two weeks of action.

River Cats Pitching Prospects

Notable Performers

Sean Hjelle: 1 G (1 GS), 4.1 IP, 11 H, 8 R (7 ER), 2 HBP, 2 BB, 4 K, 14.54 ERA
Tristan Beck: 2 G (2 GS), 9.2 IP, 16 H, 12 R (12 ER), 2 HBP, 4 BB, 8 K, 11.17 ERA
Patrick Ruotolo: 2 G (2 SV), 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 0.00 ERA

It finally happened. Sean Hjelle has made it to the big leagues and got the first strikeout of his big league career. Hjelle had his worst outing of the season before he made it to the big leagues though so it actually surprised me a bit when the front office made the call to call up Hjelle. He was sent down back to Sacramento after his cup of coffee but we have seen that both his fastball and changeup have above-average movement and his slider is more of a vertical-oriented pitch. It should be interesting what the Giants' front office will do with Hjelle this season.

Tristan Beck got the call to Sacramento a week ago but his initial taste of the level was pretty sour with a couple of rough outings. Beck's initial struggles in Sacramento right after he got called up was pretty reminiscent of Matt Frisbee's struggles last season. The control was the biggest issue for Beck as he got pounded, hitting a couple of batters in his Sacramento debut and gave up a couple of bombs on his second outing. Beck should have the stuff to succeed at the level but it will be interesting if his confidence will be shook after a couple of rough outings.

Patrick Ruotolo has settled in quite quickly in the Triple-A level after getting the call-up from Richmond a couple of weeks ago. Looking at his Savant data and it only quantified what we already knew of from him. Ruotolo's release point is below six foot (around five and a half feet) and that gives his fastball a great plane above the zone. Speaking of the heater, even though its velocity is just average, its rising movement is above-average to compliment his curveball very well. His success this season in Triple-A should come as a shock as he has all the elements to become a big league reliever.