SF Giants left-handed minor league pitcher off to a promising start in return to Sacramento

Before the season began, it felt like Kyle Harrison was the frontrunner to land the final SF Giants rotation spot. It did not happen that way for a few reasons, but he is off to a promising start in his return to the Sacramento River Cats.

SF Giants left-handed minor league pitcher off to a promising start in return to Sacramento

The Giants have a surplus of starting pitchers, both in the majors and upper minors. It would be great for all of them to throw in the major league rotation, but they only have five spots. This has led to the River Cats having a strong rotation while the Giants use Hayden Birdsong out of the rotation.

The key for all of them is to get stretched out and build up their innings workload. It is not as important whether they do it in Triple-A or the majors. They just need to get consistent reps and pitch every fifth day.

This is especially true for Harrison, who has a relatively low innings threshold. In 2024, he set a career-high with 124.1 innings with the Giants, which is a good number, but the Giants likely want to see that number closer to 150 innings this season.

Harrison is off to a promising start, as he has posted a 5.40 ERA with 23 strikeouts (13.8 K/9) and six walks (3.6 K/9) in 15 innings with the River Cats. The ERA looks worse than it is because of a bad outing where he allowed six earned runs across three innings against the Tacoma Rainiers. There was some defensive miscues behind him that were ruled hits and led to a long final inning.

Also, the league ERA in the Pacific Coast League currently sits at 5.49. There are a few things that stand out, most notably the strikeout and walk numbers. When he last pitched with the River Cats in 2023, he recorded a 14.4 K/9 with a 6.6 BB/9. He debuted for the Giants later that season, where he was electric.

However, he battled some injuries in 2024, where those high strikeout totals were just not there. He did show improvement in his control, recording a 3.0 K/9 in 24 starts with the Giants.

The most concerning change was the dip in velocity. His four-seamer averaged 92.5 MPH last season, down from 93.5 MPH during his seven starts with the Giants in 2023.

The good news is that his velocity is back up in 2025. His fastball is averaging 93.5 MPH while maxing out at 96 MPH in his latest outing against the Salt Lake Bees on Friday. His four-seamer has generated a 32.7 MPH whiff rate while his lightly-used changeup and slurve have produced whiff rates above 40 percent. For reference, a good whiff rate is around 30 percent.

It would be great for him to mix in his secondary offerings more frequently. However, there are many pitchers who have success by throwing a four-seamer more than 50 percent of the time like Hunter Greene or Joe Ryan. Of course, Green has elite fastball velocity, whereas Ryan has elite control.

Harrison does not necessarily have either of those, but the Giants hope that his pitch shape sets him apart. He throws from a low, three-quarters arm slot, which is generally the type of arm slot that sinker ballers use. However, Harrison's fastball rides and carries through the zone in a way that is somewhat unique. The hitter will tell you how good your stuff is, and Harrison's fastball has been tough to hit.

While Harrison is off to a promising start, the Giants hope he can stay healthy and continue flashing the velocity he did a couple seasons ago.