Stanford alum one of S.F.’s pitching prospects
The Giants’ 2020 rotation, as the roster is constructed and with Madison Bumgarner heading to free agency, would feature Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija and perhaps Tyler Beede and Logan Webb.
Others on the periphery include Dereck Rodríguez and Andrew Suarez and perhaps Shaun Anderson and Conner Menez.
Further down the road, the Giants will need other starters to emerge, some of whom are in the lower levels of the farm system, a few of whom were extremely impressive in 2019.
Tristan Beck: That Mark Melancon trade is looking better and better. Not only did president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi convince the Braves to absorb the remaining $18 million of the reliever’s contract in the July 31 deal, but the Giants acquired a former Stanford pitcher and fourthround draft choice.
Not that Beck was dominating in Atlanta’s farm system. He had a 5.32 ERA while averaging 3½ walks every nine innings, not promising numbers but just mediocre enough that he was deemed available. Look at him now.
“He’s been fantastic,” director of player development Kyle Haines said.
Beck, who’s 6foot4 and throws a mid90s fastball and exceptionally sharp curve, turned around his season after joining the Giants’ organization.
Thanks in part to adjustments with his mechanics (raising his hands over his head) and pitch selection, Beck posted a 2.27 ERA in six starts at Class A San Jose.
In a recent Arizona Fall League start, the righthander struck out seven in 42⁄3 innings and faced the minimum number of batters in the first three.
“We didn’t know what to expect,” Haines said. “We knew he had a lot of upside. He’s tall, has long arms, is a pretty explosive athlete with some good stuff.”
The 23yearold will move up the minorleague ladder next season, but Haines is cautious to predict how quickly he’ll accelerate, saying, “You want to do what’s best for a kid’s development. You don’t have to be in TripleA by a certain date. I don’t think we envision moving him fast or slow. We’ll let it play out.”
Seth Corry: He was named the best pitcher in the Class A South Atlantic League. He led the league in strikeouts. He threw 32 straight scoreless innings. His ERA was 1.76. Oh, and he’s 20 years old.
A power lefty who was a thirdround pick out of Lone Peak High in Utah, Corry showed over 27 games (26 starts) that his threepitch repertoire — fastball, curve, changeup — can play at higher levels.
“He has all the makings of being a guy that you hope we’ll see at Oracle Park one day and in the rotation for a while,” Haines said. “He was dominant. As he ties his consistency more together as he did this year, he’ll be a guy to keep an eye on.”
Corry’s command is a work in progress, but he located better as the season went along.
“His only damage was selfinflicted early in the year with walks,” Haines said. “Command will be the last thing to come around. They just didn’t hit the ball hard. Or at all.”
Sean Hjelle: Any Giants fan would love to see this 6foot11 righthander in the bigleague rotation, and he’s on his way.
Hjelle was so effective at Augusta (2.66 ERA in nine starts) and San Jose (2.78 ERA in 14 starts) that he got bumped to DoubleA Richmond (6.75 ERA in five starts), where he struggled.
But he’s 22 and has time to figure it out. His velocity doesn’t wow you, but he has three good pitches — including an evolving changeup — and is a strikethrower who doesn’t issue many walks.
Haines is impressed enough to say Hjelle “could be pitching a long time in the major leagues.” Of course, the trajectory of his pitches from his overthetop motion is a distinct advantage.
Caleb Kilian: Yes, the Giants did select pitchers in last June’s draft. It just took a while.
Not long ago, the Giants loaded up on pitching in the early rounds, give or take a Buster Posey, but the 2019 draft was extremely different, the first under Zaidi.
No pitcher was taken until the eighth round, and that was Kilian, a Texas Tech righthander who got into 16 innings in the low minors, mostly in rookie league — and didn’t surrender an earned run.
He issued just two walks and struck out 17, relying mostly on a fastball. He’ll need to refine his breaking pitches to succeed at higher levels.
“Once he does that,” Haines said, “he could move in the category with the top guys.”
Camilo Doval: This reliever is worth noting because of his eyepopping stuff. He presents a tough atbat, throwing 100 mph but mixing up his fastball from 93 to 100 and demonstrating how one pitch, when used with various velocities, can keep batters offbalance.
At Class A San Jose, Doval’s strikeout numbers were ridiculous: 80 K’s in 561⁄3 innings, averaging 12.8 per nine innings.
“Nobody’s really comfortable hitting him,” Haines said, and that was true for most of his four seasons in the farm system. On the other hand, Doval needs to improve his control after walking 5.4 batters per nine innings.