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SF Giants promote electric pitching prospect to Double-A

The SF Giants promoted Ben Madison to Double-A Richmond earlier this week. His electric arsenal had been dominating High-A hitters.

Marc Delucchi

SF Giants promote electric pitching prospect to Double-A
SF Giants promote electric pitching prospect to Double-A /
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The SF Giants promoted right-handed relief pitcher Ben Madison to Double-A Richmond earlier this week. Madison had spent all season with High-A Eugene. Madison may not be a well-known name to Giants fans because injuries have slowed his development. However, the 25-year-old native of Benton, Arkansas, has an excellent pair of offerings that could give him a chance to stick in the back of a big-league bullpen one day.

On the surface, Madison has been fine this season at High-A, posting a 3.05 ERA with a lot of strikeouts and walks across 22 appearances. However, a pair of ugly outings early in the season have hidden his dominance. Over his last 16 appearances with Eugene, Madison recorded 44 strikeouts against just seven walks in 27.1 innings pitched with a 0.99 ERA.

The Giants drafted Madison in the ninth round of the 2018 MLB Draft out of Central Baptist College (located in Conway, Arkansas). Madison had been a multi-sport star in high school, playing baseball, basketball, football, and track, but focused on pitching once he reached college. Madison dominated NAIA competition, striking out 172 hitters in 96.2 innings pitched in his final season at Central Baptist.

While the regime that drafted Madison seemed to be planning to develop him as a starting pitcher, the changes to the Giants player development apparatus upon president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi's arrival moved him to the bullpen full-time in 2019, although he has consistently been stretched for multiple innings.

Madison has always been effective when healthy as a pro. He has a career 2.99 ERA in the minors with 191 strikeouts (69 walks) in 135.2 innings pitched (79 appearances). However, the pandemic and a major injury cost Madison the 2020 and 2021 minor-league seasons. Set to turn 26 in September, Madison's first appearance with Richmond will be his first experience in the upper minors.

Madison has a fastball that consistently sits in the mid-90s, but his breaking ball is by far his best pitch. Madison has one of the most devastating sliders in the Giants' farm system right now. With a traditional two-pitch power arsenal, it's easy to see Madison reaching the majors.

The SF Giants will have a decision to make regarding Ben Madison's future soon. Eligible to be selected in this coming offseason's Rule 5 Draft, Zaidi will have to decide whether to protect him on the 40-man roster or risk losing him to another team. It's hard to imagine him going unselected if he continues to thrive at Double-A.

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Marc Delucchi
MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).

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