SF Giants’ prospect Kyle Harrison starts against Fernando Tatis Jr., exits early in Triple-A debut
Pitcher Kyle Harrison, the San Francisco Giants' top minor-league pitching prospect, was pulled in the third inning of his Triple-A debut for the Sacramento River Cats on Tuesday night.
SACRAMENTO – On the mound stood Kyle Harrison, the San Francisco Giants’ prized pitching prospect.
Casually waiting in the batter’s box was Fernando Tatis Jr., the San Diego Padres’ superstar who is embargoed from the majors until his suspension ends in two weeks.
It’s a tantalizing matchup that should play out for years to come in the National League West, either at Oracle Park or Petco Park, up and down the coast.
Instead, here they were in the Tuesday twilight just blocks from the state capital, in the Triple-A River Cats home opener against the El Paso Chihuahuas.
This won’t be Harrison’s home for long. He could, maybe should, get called up for his major-league debut by season’s end.
“Time moves fast, but that’s baseball. I’m excited to be here and want to get to the next step,” Harrison said after the River Cats fell 10-8.
His Triple-A debut was a mixed bag en route to a no-decision: 62 pitches, two-plus innings, four strikeouts, four walks, one (infield) hit, and one run that was charged to him after he exited in the third inning following back-to-back walks.
Three years ago, he was at De La Salle High-Concord, having delivered a North Coast Section title as a junior before COVID benched the 2020 season. He’s already wowed through two minor-league seasons, starting at Single-A San Jose in 2021, then High-A Eugene and Double-A Richmond last season.
At 6:49 p.m., inside the half-filled Sutter Health Park (announced crowd of 9,548), it was time for Harrison’s first pitch of Triple-A ball.
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound left-hander promptly buzzed Tatis with a belt-high, inside fastball at 95 mph. Ball One, followed by Tatis fouling off a 94-mph offering, en route to a five-pitch walk.
“I really wanted to just go out and attack him, but obviously I didn’t have my stuff today, and I ended up walking him,” Harrison said. “Against a guy like that, I want to get ahead, stay ahead and put him out as quick as possible, but just couldn’t do that today.”
Two innings later, Harrison issued a two-out, five-pitch walk to Tatis, who swung through a 3-0, 95-mph fastball. (Tatis later grounded into a double play, then delivered a go-ahead, RBI single in the sixth as the starting right-fielder, foreshadowing his MLB move from shortstop.)
What was Tatis, a 2021 Major League All-Star on a $340 million contract, even doing in the batter’s box? This was his rehab debut before he re-joins the Padres on April 20, once he completes his 80-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. He missed all of last season, initially because of a fractured left wrist before the PED suspension was levied.
First Triple-A punchout for Kyle Harrison
The top-ranked @SFGiants prospect dials it up to 96.3 mph in the 1st: pic.twitter.com/k6Xcl5pqDo
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 5, 2023
Harrison, 21, grew up 77 miles southwest in Danville. After excelling at De La Salle, he bypassed his UCLA commitment once the Giants wooed him with a $2.5 million signing bonus, over three times the slotted amount for a third-round pick.
“I watched their ’10-’12-’14 reign, with Timmy, MadBum, etc. It’s a great organization and I’m happy to be in it,” Harrison said, “And I’ll try to win some more championships, for sure.”
Harrison looked very much the part of a big-time prospect, even if his command was off against Tatis and others.
Of his 62 pitches, 30 were strikes.
“They’re squeezing him,” bellowed a fan behind home plate, clearly unaware that Triple-A pitches are being called by robot umpires this season, while a real-life umpire signals from behind the plate.
Despite the control issues, Harrison showed moxie battling from the stretch, and his fastball routinely checked in between 94 and 96 mph. His first Triple-A strikeout came in at 96 mph against Tim Lopes, the Chihuahuas’ No. 3 hitter.
“Making some good pitches in certain counts, that is a good thing to take away from that,” Harrison added. “Knowing that my stuff can play and it’s just a matter of refining it and getting in the zone more.”
After a groundout stranded Tatis at first in the opening frame, Harrison calmly stepped down the dugout stairs and teammates greeted him with fist bumps and high-fives.
An inning later, he escaped with two runners on base, courtesy of a full-count strikeout on an 81-mph slider. (He relies on his fastball and slider while trying to master a changeup.)
Last season, he recorded the highest strikeout rate (14.8 per 9 innings) in the minors since 1960.
How to rate Harrison’s Triple-A debut? A work-in-progress, just as he appeared in spring training, where he had mixed results in three outings for the big-league club. A month ago, in his Cactus League debut, he gave up two runs on three hits with a walk over one inning.
“Spring training was great, learning from multiple guys, whether it’s asking pitch grips or how they live their life and go about their business,” Harrison said.
At 7:29 p.m. Tuesday, Harrison calmly strode off the diamond, with the same composed demeanor as the two previous innings.
How long until he walks off the Oracle Park mound? Time will tell, but one more thing to know about Harrison’s Tuesday outing: the pitch clock is not an issue for a quick-pitching, hard-throwing ace-in-waiting.
“Maybe I was a little more amped than I like to be, but then again, that’s just about going back to work and staying content,” Harrison said. “I can’t wait to get back out there Sunday.”