SF Giants prospects: Kyle Harrison makes history in Oracle Park debut

SF Giants lefty Kyle Harrison, one of MLB's best pitching prospects, made plenty of history in his Oracle Park debut against the Cincinnati Reds.

In his Oracle Park debut, SF Giants top pitching prospect Kyle Harrison made some serious history. Harrison struck out 11 across 6.1 shutout innings of work in Monday night's 4-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. He joined the company of so many baseball greats it's almost hard to keep track. 

SF Giants P Kyle Harrison pitches against the Reds at Oracle Park on August 28, 2023 / Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Harrison struck out the first five batters he faced, a feat not seen from a Giants pitcher since Hall of Famer lefty Randy Johnson donned the uniform in 2009.

Kyle Harrison has seven strikeouts through three innings. He became the first Giants starter since Randy Johnson in 2009 to open a game with five straight.

— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) August 29, 2023

Not only that, but he's the youngest Giants pitcher to record double-digit strikeouts in a game since Madison Bumgarner (22 years, eight days) in 2011. He also joins Juan Marichal, Cliff Melton, and Jeff Tesreau in pitching 10+ strikeouts in their first or second game with the franchise. The last MLB-wide pitcher to strike out more than 10 in their second career outing was Shohei Ohtani, who had 12.

Kyle Harrison is the 4th Giants pitcher since at least 1901 with 10+ strikeouts in a game in his 1st or 2nd career outing, joining:

7/19/60 Juan Marichal: 12
4/25/37 Cliff Melton: 13
4/20/1912 Jeff Tesreau: 10

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) August 29, 2023

Harrison is recognized as the best pitching prospect in the Giants organization (and arguably the best in the minors). He spent the entire 2023 season at Triple-A Sacramento, recording a 4.52 ERA with 109 strikeouts and 48 walks in 67.2 innings pitched before being called up to face the formidable Phillies lineup last week.

The Giants drafted Harrison in the third round of the 2020 MLB Draft out of Bay Area's own De La Salle High School, convincing him to join the home team instead of attending UCLA with a $2.5 million signing bonus. Over the past three years, Harrison has dominated the minor leagues and established himself as one of the top 50 prospects in all of the minor leagues.

In his MLB debut last week in Philadelphia, he threw 3.1 innings, allowing two runs off of five hits, walking one, and striking out five. The SF Giants ended up losing that game via walk-off in the ninth. A great line in his debut, but his second game was even better.