The SF Giants have seen plenty of prospects contribute at the big-league level this season as a rookie. But no prospect had higher expectations coming into the year than left-handed pitcher Kyle Harrison ( Giants Top Pitching Prospect). Harrison has racked up strikeouts at Triple-A and is a strong candidate to make his big-league debut with the Giants before the end of the season. However, Harrison is currently on the injured list with a hamstring strain. A source has informed Giants Baseball Insider that Harrison's injury rehab is going well and suggests he is nearing a return to the mound.
The Athletic's Keith Law recently raised alarm bells with a report about Harrison in his top-60 prospect rankings. Law wrote, "He’s also on the IL right now with a Grade 2 hamstring strain, a partial tear that will probably keep him out several more weeks and could end his regular season," about the young lefty. However, Giants Baseball Insider has been unable to substantiate either of those claims. In fact, given the length of time since Harrison sustained his injury on July 7th, it seems unlikely that the 21-year-old suffered a Grade 2 strain given his progress.
The Giants drafted Harrison in the third round of the 2020 MLB Draft out of the Bay Area's De La Salle High School. He began his pro career at full-season ball in 2021 and went on to win the Low-A West Pitcher of the Year Award. He led the league in ERA (3.19) and strikeouts per nine innings (14.3). A top-100 prospect in the minors, Harrison became a consensus top-50 prospect last season after recording 186 strikeouts and only 49 walks in 113 innings with an exceptional 2.71 ERA between High-A and Double-A.
Harrison has spent the entire 2023 season at Triple-A Sacramento. He has posted a 4.79 ERA with 92 strikeouts and 44 walks in 56.1 innings pitched (15 games). As his numbers clearly show, Harrison has shown an impressive ability to strike opposing hitters out but has struggled to work deep into games because of tight pitch counts and inconsistent command.
Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said last offseason that the organization expected Kyle Harrison to make his MLB debut at some point during the 2023 season. While the organization has service time incentives that could have impacted its handling of the young southpaw, his limited workload thus far could now allow the SF Giants to slowly ramp him up to join the big-league rotation late in the season for a potential postseason run without having to worry about an innings limit.
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