Getting to Know Kyle Harrison: Next Giants Star With Bay Area Roots?
Photo by: Bill Streicher (USA Today Sports)
Another top prospect has arrived at the big league level for the San Francisco Giants. Kyle Harrison, the Giants' top pitching prospect, was called up earlier this week and made his debut on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Phillies. In his first outing, he pitched three and a third innings, giving up two earned runs, hit one batter, walked one and allowed five hits. However, he did impress with five strikeouts.
He’s in good company making his debut at such a young age (22 years, 10 days) the last Giants pitcher of a similar age and stage of development being Madison Bumgarner (20 years, 28 days) (Who’s that? How did his Giants career pan out?).
Kyle Harrison is a standout from De La Salle High School, a well-known preparatory school in Concord, CA, 26 miles northeast of Oracle Park in San Francisco. Originally, Harrison committed to play baseball at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). In an interview with MLB in 2021 as well as an interview with Giants’ longtime reporter and contributor Amy G during 2023 Spring Training, he mentioned, “loved the pitching program there…felt like I couldn’t really go wrong by choosing that school.” But the Giants drafted Harrison anyway, the local high school product, in the third round of the 2020 draft (85th overall) and signed him to a nearly $2.5 million bonus, which was three to four times the original $710,000 slot. When asked about what led to his decision to forego his education and the opportunity to pitch for a high-level college program, he gave this answer, “I felt like I’ve heard such great things about this organization, like I said growing up watching ‘em and yeah…just kind of wanted to dream a little bit and wanted to chase my dream.”
There are also some Giants with Bay Area roots and connections, whom he may follow in the footsteps of. Barry Bonds is the one that looms as most controversial around the baseball world as a whole, yet well-loved by the organization and embraced by many of the fans. Brandon Crawford, is now the single remnant of the championship teams, but still remains one of the best defensive shortstops in the game.
Photo by: Marcio Jose Sanchez (Associated Press)
Photo by: Sergio Estrada (USA Today Sports)
The stat in his minor league career that really jumps off the page are his punchouts per 9 innings. Over the course of three years (2021-2023), he’s averaged 14.56 strikeouts per 9 innings. He definitely showed glimpses of that in his short outing on Tuesday.The main concern with Harrison has been his command and control. In his last two starts with Triple-A Sacramento, he put it all together, pitching seven and a third innings, to pair 11 strikeouts, and no walks; earning the callup. He’s also upgraded his repertoire and now sports a three-pitch combo: a fastball, slider, and changeup. (Statcast has him down for a 4-seam, slurve, and changeup.)
As a Giants fan, I’m excited to see what Harrison will do at the major league level and whether this generational prospect can be a key future piece in the Giants rotation.