Who were the most exciting SF Giants pitching prospects in the Cactus League?

Now that Spring Training is so over, it's time to look back and see how these prospects perform in the Cactus League. Essentially, what we are looking at in Spring Training is whether these prospects powered up in the time skip that is the offseason. It should help us with our evaluations once the regular season starts. I only pulled up the prospects who pitched at least one appearance for the SF Giants.

Who were the most exciting SF Giants pitching prospects in the Cactus League?

Even if they only mustered just one out or even faced one hitter. To help support their games, we are also going to garner help from the clips taken at Papago from several friends of the site. We are not looking for the stats here. We are only looking at the tweaks in their game to see if those changes would help or hurt them in our evaluations throughout the season.

Hayden Birdsong

We only saw Birdsong early on this spring facing the Cubs and Rangers before getting sent to the Minor League camp in Papago just after the calendar flipped to March. Much of what we saw from Birdsong in Arizona is still pretty much similar to what we saw last season when he shoved his way and reached as high as Double-A. His mechanics with him pitching out of the stretch and a motion akin to Aaron Sanchez is still essentially the same.

His overpowering fastball is still quite overpowering, though he struggled to throw it with consistent precision. Fastball control has been Birdsong's biggest issue last season and you would hope that it improves this year. His breaking balls are still quite nasty, particularly the curveball. He's upped his usage of the slider last season and I expect it to be his second-most thrown pitch this season. The changeup is still a clear fourth pitch so that's something to watch in the regular season.

Spencer Bivens

Bivens was featured quite a bit this spring and there was a minute chance that he could be pitching in the big leagues out of spring training but that is ultimately not the case. The operation was similar to what it was last season, with clean mechanics that have a bit of crossfire where he fires low to mid-90s bowling balls with a solid slider and a changeup.

He is not a big strikeout/swing-and-miss reliever but he generates plenty of groundballs that should play at Oracle Park. No matter what happens with him throughout the season, his journey should be quite sweet considering how it started.

Mason Black

We got a chance to see a good amount of Mason Black in spring training this season and the results were kind of a mixed bag. I was not sure if he was primarily pitching to contact or if the stuff was not that effective so far in terms of generating swings and misses.

The stuff still looked relatively the same with his lively four-seam and two-seam fastball and his sweeper and not-so-sweepy slider variety. One tweak that I noticed is in his mechanics, particularly in how he gets to his leg kick.

Last season, his glove was around his chest and his torso stayed level at the top of his leg kick. This season, his glove is now around waist level and his torso drops slightly as he drives down the mound. The rest of the operation though stayed largely the same. Pitching to contact is worth monitoring for Black to keep his pitch count healthy as the front office believes in him as a starter.

Jack Choate

Choate pitched quite an interesting inning of work against the Dodgers that was televised. It was interesting in a way that there might need a revisit. I did not see any major changes to his approach or his mechanics.

It may just be a minor tweak regarding his slightly quicker tempo and slightly shorter arm action, but I can confidently say the operation is the same. An uptick in overall velocity is what I want to happen with Choate. His inning of televised work did not give any answers but his changeup was in full display. I think it might be a plus pitch, maybe better. The slider is also still there having its moments.

RJ Dabovich

It's nice to see Dabovich fully healthy after undergoing a major hip surgery last June. He did not particularly look good in his outing against the Athletics but at the very least, he was consistently pumping 95 mph fastballs and there are chimes that he's hit the high-90s mark. The curveball is still a mid-80s hammer but the control post-surgery is something that is to be monitored throughout the season.

Blayne Enlow

Enlow is one of the heavily relied-upon pitchers this spring, pitching in a regular four-day routing in his final three appearances. I guess the biggest kudos that I can give to Enlow is that he held his own against the loaded Dodgers lineup for three innings. He even struck out Freddie Freeman so that's a feat to remember. He struck him out with his best pitch, the slider. But he also has a fastball that can touch 95 mph, a curveball, and a changeup. The mechanics look fluid and he could be one of the first guys up to the big league roster during the 2024 season.

Who were the most exciting SF Giants pitching prospects in the Cactus League?

Matt Frisbee

Frisbee only pitched one outing this spring, against the Angels, and only faced one batter. And yet, it was a revelation. Back when he was one of the biggest breakout pitchers in 2022, he dominated the Double-A level with his slider. He can precisely locate the pitch to get both swinging and called strikes.

He lost not only his control but also, most importantly, his confidence when he got shelled at Triple-A in the same year. He was still trying to regain some semblance of his old self last year. He threw a couple of fastballs and a couple of splitters against a lefty batter against the only batter he faced. Granted, a splitter is certainly a type of pitch that you throw against a righty. However, he was unafraid to throw his slider against any hitter no matter the handedness. If this is Frisbee's path forward, it will certainly be worth watching.

Evan Gates

Gates pitched multiple times this spring but did not pitch in a televised game. However, I have seen him pitch, and it was quite interesting. Yes, Gates is still the same in terms of the stuff, but the pitch usage now may be different. His high-80s slider/cutter (depending on who you ask) from the looks of things will be the feature pitch alongside his mid-80s curveball.

He's already been doing this quite a bit in the high-Minors and while it helped him keep up in terms of strikeouts, his walk rate rose and his run prevention suffered as a result. He is not known for his velocity so his taking this breaking ball-heavy approach makes sense to him, even if it hurts his strike-throwing.

Kyle Harrison

Yes, everyone. Kyle Harrison is still a prospect even though he's deeply entrenched himself in the rotation. I would likely omit him altogether once the season starts as I do my weekly recaps as he's pitching in the big leagues, maybe only giving a couple of thoughts or so specific to him and Lee Jung-hoo.

So far, we've seen more good than bad on Harrison. When he's in sync as for most of his outings, he's as good as advertised. The fastball can be plainly unhittable, the slider is wipeout, and the changeup can have its moments. When he's getting too rotational though like in his outing against the Royals, he can be quite erratic. That did not limit him from racking up plenty of strikeouts still but the walks can be an issue. The former happened more times than not though, and we'll take those if we're the Giants.

Wil Jensen

Jensen was solid in his spring training appearances and was essentially the same pitcher since he entered the Giants organization. He relied upon his pitch-to-contact skills with his low-90s fastball, curveball, and changeup. A bit of a vanilla operation but he's been effective as a reliable innings-eater in the places that he pitched.

Who were the most exciting SF Giants pitching prospects in the Cactus League?

Mat Olsen

I have not seen anything much different from Mat Olsen in the two televised games he pitched. It was still a herky-jerky motion with great tempo and was able to extend his body so forward from the rubber that it helped his fastball "look" faster. Even though in actuality, the fastball velocity is likely only in the 91-96 mph range. The hard curveball also looked good for his other primary pitch. I did not really worry about blowing the save situation against Kansas City but it's something to keep in mind whenever he gets the ball in the ninth at the Minor League level.

Randy Rodriguez

Rodriguez greatly struggled with his control in his early spring performances where he got yoinked by the Giants out of Scottsdale to return to Pagago. Even though Rodriguez was all over the place at Scottsdale, he's shown to get on top of the ball more this season compared to last year. Hopefully, that allows his power stuff to be thrown in the strike zone more consistently. Rodriguez does not need to be a perfectionist in the strike zone to be an effective pitcher. Just throw the ball in the vicinity of the zone and let the natural stuff play.

Tommy Romero

Romero pitched quite a bit this spring and it gave us a sneak peek into what kind of pitcher he is. He is a pitcher who throws over the top in a similar way that former Rays pitcher Matt Garza throws as he tilts his body a bit to create the release point. It allows him to give his fastball plenty of backspin for it to play up in the zone and generate swings and misses. He pairs it with a slider that spins like a bullet, more of a vertical drop gyro variety rather than the sweeper. With average control, Romero should be sniffing an opportunity in the big leagues if it ever arises.

Landen Roupp

There is no denying that Roupp is one of the biggest stars of the spring training for the Giants. He struck out a lot of batters, his curveball was on full display, and most importantly, he's shown that any ailments or injuries that he had last season are completely behind him. He's looked great. I honestly did not see any changes in his approach, his mechanics, or his pitch arsenal.

One thing that Roupp should improve this season is his fastball control. He struggled to locate his sinker plenty of times and though he can essentially steal strikes with his curveball, he has to establish his fastball in the zone to become an effective big leaguer. Nonetheless, Roupp's fully healthy and ready to rock as he was included in the Opening Day roster, and deservedly so.

Juan Sanchez

You can find my Juan Sanchez thoughts here.

Carson Seymour

From the looks of things, Seymour is still the Carson Seymour that was the main workhorse for the Richmond pitching staff last season. He's still pumping power sinkers and power sliders from his high release point. The control was an issue for him this spring, something that he controlled pretty well last season. There was also one pitch that looked like a splitter or sort, a pitch with plenty of tumbling action but was located high in the zone. If that is a splitter, it could serve as his third pitch to aid his chances as a starter.

Eric Silva

Silva has pitched in an untelevised game as far as I remember this spring but we are here to talk about that one clip. Yes, that is the friend of the site Roger Munter's behind home plate view and SFGProspects' CF angle.

It showed Silva constantly hitting 95 and up to 97 mph with his fastball which was in line with his 2022 self. Last year, he sat in the low 90s. He's also looked much more fit this season compared to last year. The slider also had its crispy sweeping action back and the changeup had its moments. Now, will it be enough for Silva to go back as a starter? Most likely, yeah. Now, can he fix his biggest issue of 2022 which was sequencing and having enough control to throw his fastball up in the zone? That we will see.

Ethan Small

Small was on the top step of the podium as the Giants' second lefty reliever behind Taylor Rogers but was hit by an oblique strain, leaving his status in question. When he pitched this spring though, he looked awesome. His mechanics' funkiness is definitely there, his fastball was there, and the astounding changeup was getting both lefties and righties out. The good Ethan Small was there. If the good Ethan Small shows up in the big leagues, then it's a steal of an acquisition by Farhan Zaidi.

Nick Swiney

Swiney only faced so few hitters whenever he stepped on the mound this spring so we are only going to talk about a small sample size here. However, the very few instances that he pitched left me quite a bit disappointed as he was still essentially the same pitcher. He's a junkballer with high-80s velocity in his fastball but greatly favors throwing his changeup and curveball much more to hide his now below-average velocity. The control is also an issue with him throwing so many secondaries, or primaries in his case.

Keaton Winn

It is always nice to see Keaton Winn back and healthy, ready to take that fifth rotation spot. Winn has been relying heavily on his power splitter which is good as he was inducing a lot of groundballs with the pitch. The effectiveness of his heater though is a slight worry but the pitch is only the set-up pitch for the big boss that is the split. We do not need to worry about him.

Chris Wright

I am going to be frank here, Chris Wright's only appearance in spring training was not a good look for him. He faced the Angels in late February, struggled with his control, and the fastball velocity was in the low 90s like last season. For the most part, it is the same issues he had last season in the high-Minors. If he can't fix those issues, the chances of him becoming a big leaguer are getting slim.