The San Francisco Giants may or may not have a pitching problem early in Spring Training. Per Alex Pavlovic:
The Giants say Tristan Beck went back to SF to see doctors because of right hand discomfort. They have wanted to go with a young rotation, but their No. 4/5 starters have already gotten hurt …
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) February 27, 2024
Tristan Beck looked great in short bursts last season and seemed setup to function at the back of the 2024 rotation as a 3-4 inning type of starter. That might still be the case, but coming so soon after Keaton Winn’s barking elbow, it’s enough to make you, me, and everyone we know (who cares about the Giants) wonder, “Hmm. Is this good?” Neither has appeared in Cactus League action and seem set to be at least a week and a half behind the full group.
If the Giants are going full youth movement, then yes this is a good thing. Every injury is another free spotlight for a prospect to step into. The temptation, of course, is to agitate for last year’s Cy Young winner or one of the pitching heroes from the World Series. Or Michael Lorenzen. But that is off brand for the 2024 Giants. You gotta like these kids. No, seriously. You gotta like these kids or else.
Before the Beck news, Pavlovic had posted an article spotlighting a quartet of prospect arms Bob Melvin, Joey Bart, and Patrick Bailey seem excited about. They’re all familiar to the McCovey Chronicles community, but for those of you reading who merely dip in from time to time, check out that article. Of the bunch, Mason Black looks most ready to step up.
Of course, Black was already one of those depth prospects included in the bunch of arms after Logan Webb. While Alex Cobb and Robbie Ray are slated to help at some point this season, it remains an open question if they will wind up being the cavalry or the coroner. That means it’s up to Kyle Harrison to step into that #2 starter role. To that end…
Kyle Harrison looked pretty dominant in his first start of the spring. He struck out four in two hitless innings, including Semien, Lowe and Heim. Fastball was 93-94 mph and command was good.
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) February 25, 2024
New Giants catcher Tom Murphy on Kyle Harrison: “Man, he was explosive today. I feel like every guy up there was saying they felt like they had no chance against his fastball. He could have thrown that every pitch.”
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) February 25, 2024
There’s also another lefty: Ethan Small, acquired from the Brewers a few weeks ago. He had a 29% strikeout rate in four minor league seasons. There are a lot of “maybes” after Webb, but Harrison seems like he could emerge from that group.
Plenty of pitching staffs have survived on two starting pitchers and a competent bullpen. In an offseason that’s demanded a constant lowering of expectations, I think we know the drill.
