SF Giants pitching prospects rundown (5/14 - 5/20)

SF Giants pitching prospects rundown (5/14 - 5/20)

Emeralds Pitching Prospects

Notable Performers

Ryan Murphy: 1 G (1 GS), 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K, 0.00 ERA
Kyle Harrison: 2 G (2 GS), 10 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 17 K, 0.00 ERA
Jake Wong: 1 G, 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 0.00 ERA

It might have taken a month and a half but finally, Ryan Murphy is back. In a shocking but expected fashion, the Giants' front office decided to assign Murphy to Eugene to start his 2022 season where he dominated the level in the final months of last season. Murphy has introduced a couple of tweaks in his pitching this season and we have finally seen it. His torso is now taller and his path to the plate is straighter compared to last season as a result of removing most of his crossfire. He's also introduced a changeup discreetly that has the potential to become a good pitch because it looked visibly slower than his fastball while throwing the same arm speed. I am taking this early starts in Eugene for Murphy as a rehab stint where he definitely deserves to play in Richmond for most of this season.

Speaking of deserving to play in Richmond, Kyle Harrison definitely fits that conversation. Harrison's just doing this by the daily now and he now has 59 strikeouts in 29 innings of work this season. For me, the numbers do not matter anymore as I know what he can already do. What I want more is what he could do to take his game to the next level, specifically what his third pitch would be. He's trying out a curveball now alongside his changeup to pair up with his fastball and slider. I need to watch more of his curveball to better assess it but my first impression is it looked good. It would be huge for him to develop one of those pitches to an average offering or better to make him an elite starter prospect.

Capping the Emeralds rundown is Jake Wong's best performance of the season throwing four hitless innings of relief. Wong has been solid but unspectacular before last week with a 3.72 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 19.1 innings pitched this season. He's still pretty much a full four-pitch guy but we've seen that he's still utilizing the fastball-curve as his go-to pitches and the fastball is still sizzling topping out in the high-90s. Wong's role might still be in middle relief but a guy with this kind of velocity should get to at least the high-Minors.