SF Giants mysteriously release promising left-handed minor league pitcher

In some minor league news, the SF Giants have released left-handed pitcher Braydon Risley who was pitching for the Single-A San Jose Giants. Shoutout to social media user @ImNotHuman123 who pointed this out on July 5.

According to the San Jose Giants’ transaction log, Risley was released on July 5. As of yet there has not been any official reason for why he was let go but it is a bit odd since he has shown some promise this season.

The Giants drafted the 21-year-old Risley in the 19th round of the 2025 MLB Draft out of Grayson College in Texas. According to his Baseball Reference page his only other recorded stats came in 2024 when he pitched for Tarleton State. That year he had a 2-5 record with a 4.89 ERA in 57 innings pitched. 

For the San Jose Giants in the 2026 season prior to his release he had a 6-3 record with a 4.80 ERA in 60 innings pitched as he struck out 64 batters and walked 17.

He was named the Cal League Pitcher of the Month in May as he recorded a 1.48 ERA that month in 24 and 1/3 innings pitched.

June actually turned out to be a very bad month for him as he pitched to a an ERA of 10.00 in 18 innings of work. His last outing with the San Jose Giants came on July 3 and he gave up three earned runs in 4 and 1/3 innings of work.

We’ll have to see if any word or reporting comes out about why Risley was let go. It’s odd for a move like this to seemingly come out of nowhere so one figures there must be something more going on here.

San Jose Giants have had a great year so far in 2026

The San Jose Giants as a whole have had a very strong year though thanks in part to their promising young pitchers. The team is 12-3 in the second half thus far and that comes after the team was 37-29 in the first half and secured a playoff spot.

At least the minor league affiliates have given some hope for the future of the franchise this year. Positive results in the minors don’t always lead to positive results in the big leagues but Giants fans have to take any win they can get at this point with how bad the team has been at the big league level.

Risley’s departure shouldn’t hurt the team too much especially since it should have some reinforcements fairly soon with the MLB Draft coming up but it’s still a curious development. 

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow