Photo Credit: Andy Kuno | SF Giants | Getty Images
So far in the Top 50:
#50-46 (Lisbel Diaz, Hayden Wynja, Alix Hernandez, Carson Ragsdale, Ben Madison)
#45-41 (Jose Cruz, Tyler Myrick, Eric Silva, Nick Zwack, Josh Bostick)
#40-36 (William Kempner, R.J. Dabovich, Scott Bandura, Cole Foster, Nick Avila)
#35-31 (Jairo Pomares, Manuel Mercedes, Ryan Murphy, Erik Miller, Spencer Miles)
#30-26 (Kai-Wei Teng, Cole Waites, Randy Rodriguez, Maui Ahuna, Liam Simon)
#25-21 (Gerelmi Maldonado, Carson Seymour, Adrian Sugastey, Onil Perez, Diego Velasquez)
#20-16 (Heliot Ramos, Trevor McDonald, Landen Roupp, Victor Bericoto, Wade Meckler)
#15-12 (Tyler Fitzgerald, Joe Whitman, Vaun Brown, Reggie Crawford)
The kid from Concord (or from San Jose, depending on how you want to define these things) is about to have his moment. Kyle Harrison, who has been the top pitching prospect for the organization since literally BEFORE he made his professional debut, who has been considered by many the top left-handed pitching prospect in the game, who electrified the San Francisco Faithful when he first appeared before them in a home uni, the heir apparent who is meant to sit on the right hand of Logan Webb, currently sits as the #2 starter on the Giants’ depth chart.
Now that may change — and soon! Rumors continue to swirl around the Giants and Blake Snell, potentially reuniting Snell with his Padres’ Manager and teaming the top two Cy Young Award finalists from last season together. But whether or not the Giants see an opportunity there that makes sense, the long-term strategy seems clear. As I have advocated on the KROG podcast a few times now, the Giants are entering an era in which they see Webb and Harrison forming a potent long-term twosome at, or near, the top of their rotation for the foreseeable future, around which they can build. The short-term deals that have seen such success recently (a la Kevin Gausman, Carlos Rodón, or Alex Cobb) can make much more of an impact if they aren’t simply forming a merry-go-round at the top of the rotation, but are rather temporary mortar filling in around the rocks that form the base of the structure.
And while the Giants are certain to give opportunities to several other young pitchers whom we’ve been exploring in this series (with Mason Black looking more and more likely to get his major league debut in fairly soon), the foundation stone for the structure the team is trying to erect is being laid by Webb and Harrison, two NorCal kids that the team hopes will be driving jersey sales — and Wins — for years to come.
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