SF Giants: Kyle Harrison voted the best pitching prospect in the Eastern League

Kyle Harrison has had a great year in the SF Giants system. In Baseball America's look at AA, he was named the best pitching prospect in the Eastern League.

Marc Delucchi | Sep 3, 2022

SF Giants: Kyle Harrison voted the best pitching prospect in the Eastern League /

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San Francisco Giants

It's been quite a year for SF Giants pitching prospect Kyle Harrison. The De La Salle alum has dominated the minor leagues since the Giants drafted him in the third round of the 2020 MLB draft, but he's taken things to another level. Folks around the league have taken notice. In Baseball America's review of the prospects with the best tools at Double-A, Harrison was voted the best pitching prospect in the Eastern League.

SF Giants prospect Kyle Harrison talks on the field before the All Star-Futures Game at Dodger Stadium. (2022) — Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Harrison was a consensus back half top-100 prospect in the minor leagues heading into this season. Still, his stock has been rising ever since. Starting the year at High-A Eugene, Harrison dominated opposing hitters. In seven starts, Harrison racked up 59 strikeouts in 29 innings pitched with a 1.55 ERA despite being more than three years younger than the average player in the league.

The Giants promoted Harrison to Double-A Richmond early in the summer to try and challenge the southpaw. He has passed that test with flying colors. Now nearly five years younger than the average player in the league, Harrison has recorded a 2.96 ERA in 73 innings pitched (15 starts) with 108 strikeouts.

Harrison's arsenal features a mid-90s fastball that plays well above its velocity because of his unique release point. He also features a wipeout breaking ball and a changeup that have each flashed the potential to be plus pitches as well. Harrison is still working on corraling his command, which can get erratic at times, but he has taken notable strides this season.

Harrison turned 21 less than a month ago. Given his youth, the Giants have been hesitant to push Harrison's workload too much, leading him to average less than five innings per start this year despite his dominance. The only remaining questions in his development are how significantly he can improve his command and how he will handle a heavier workload. Nevertheless, the SF Giants have to be more than happy with how impressive Kyle Harrison has looked this season. After all, he's already the best pitching prospect in the Eastern League.

Published Sep 3, 2022

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).