Non-roster spring invites made, including top prospect Harrison
From Farhan Zaidi on down, Giants leadership hasn't hidden its excitement over 21-year-old left-hander Kyle Harrison. The De La Salle graduate is considered the top left-handed pitching prospect in the game, and Zaidi has said his debut could come this season — sooner rather than later.
That sentiment was reflected Monday when the Giants released their list of non-roster invitees to major-league camp. Harrison will train with the big leaguers, along with 36 other NRIS, and while he realistically won't break camp with the big club — likely destined for Triple-a Sacramento — as long as he's there, he's got a shot.
“You want to say he's going to come in and surprise people, but he's not going to surprise anybody,” said Logan Webb, who has been training with Harrison this offseason at the club's Arizona facilities. “He's going to do exactly what we think he's going to do. I'm excited to see that.”
Along with Harrison, slick-fielding third base prospect Casey Schmitt earned an invite to bigleague camp (Gabe Kapler told reporters at fan fest he could get some reps at shortstop, which he also did at Double-a last season), as well as speedy outfielder Vaun Brown and hard-throwing reliever R.J. Dabovich — all players who could debut sometime this year.
Two other top prospects, Marco Luciano and Luis Matos, will also be there after being added to the 40man roster this winter.
Harrison, who was pried away from a commitment to UCLA with a well-above slot bonus as a third-round pick in 2020; Schmitt, the Giants' second-round pick that year; Dabovich, their fourth-rounder in 2020; and Brown, discovered in the 10th round in 2021, represent the first crop of drafted-and-developed prospects under the Zaidi regime, after Cole Waites (2019, 18th round) became the first such player to make the majors late last season.
Besides the most heralded prospects, non-roster lists always include some intriguing names, and the Giants this year are no exception.
In addition to the previously reported minorleague signings of catcher Roberto Perez, righthander Joe Ross and outfielder Stephen Piscotty, the Giants will have in camp a two-way player: Ronald Guzmán, who is listed as an infielder and a left-handed pitcher. Guzmán, 28, spent the first nine years of his professional career in the Rangers organization, primarily as a first baseman, but signed with the Yankees last season and made one appearance on the mound for their Triple-a affiliate.
The two-way player the Giants drafted with their first selection in the past amateur draft, Reggie Crawford, will be in minorleague camp, as expected, but 2020 first-rounder Patrick Bailey will be among the group of catchers for his second straight spring. That group also includes Perez and Austin Wynns, who are expected to compete with Joey Bart for two catching spots.
Left-hander Sean Newcomb (LA Angels, 2014) and outfielder Clint Coulter (Milwaukee, 2012) are two former first-round picks of other teams that are new to the Giants organization, while another former first-rounder they already acquired, infielder Will Wilson (LA Angels, 2019), will also be in big league camp. Newcomb, 29, appeared in 105 games (53 starts) with a 3.87 ERA during his first three MLB seasons with Atlanta from 2017-19 but has posted a 7.45 mark in 56 games with three teams in the three seasons since. Coulter, 29, hit .297/.377/.533 in 182 atbats at Triple-a last season, his second at the level.
Of the 37 players, nine can claim ties to Northern California and/or the Bay Area. And one fun oddity: two are products of a suburban high school in southwest Washington state — Union High (Camas) — that has produced four total professional baseball players. They are Coulter and infielder Brady Whalen, who — strangely enough — didn't even overlap in their time there.