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.

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.