SF Giants’ top prospect Kyle Harrison roughed up in first spring start of career

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — As the lineups were being announced on Tuesday in Goodyear, those in orange and black heard a statement for the first time of what they hope will be hundreds of times:

“Starting pitcher for the Giants, left-hander Kyle Harrison.”

The 21-year-old who is the Giants’ top prospect took the mound for his second outing, but first as a starter and got roughed up by the Reds in a 7-3 loss.

Harrison only got five outs, allowing five hits on five runs — including a three-run homer to Pleasanton native TJ Friedl.

“Obviously not the result I wanted, but I was just trying to get out there, compete and throw strikes,” Harrison said. “Good to see how your stuff plays with guys like that in the box. Definitely some adjustments to be made, so you get back to it.”

It was a rough first inning for the De La Salle alum, who only got two outs while giving up four runs on three hits, capped off by the homer to Friedl. Harrison was pulled then, but re-entered in the second — as allowed by spring training rules — and gave up another two hits and a run.

“It’s a really good experience for him,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. ” This is what spring training is for, to work some of the kinks out and get your first experiences doing things, like starting a major league spring training game. He threw strikes, the stuff was coming out good.

“Just kind of in the middle of the plate a little bit, major league hitters are good and that’s what happens. We talked about it after and I think Kyle understands that, over the course of time, these sorts of experiences will help him. Right now, it’s not going to feel great to him, but he’s pretty good at turning the page.”

There was at least one bright spot for Harrison, who MLB.com ranks as the No. 18 prospect overall. In the first, he fooled longtime big leaguer Wil Myers on a backfoot slider to get a swing and miss, then got Myers to chase a fastball high and away for a strikeout.

Kapler didn’t want to take too much away from that positive result, just like he’s not overanalyzing the rough outing. While Harrison was doing the same, that one at-bat did stand out.

“I’m not going to say that was a highlight. I think that was just the potential I could have,” Harrison said. “Showing that tunneling and throwing the pitches that you want and executing them can pay off. So just need to figure out how to do that more often.”

Harrison, who is likely to start the season at Triple-A Sacramento, mixed all three of his pitches on Tuesday, a fastball that was between 93-95 miles per hour, plus a big slider and a changeup. But he felt there is a lot of room for improvement.

“The pitches weren’t looking too good today, to my liking,” Harrison said. “Really just got to keep my antenna up in the bullpens and get after it, pounding the strike zone and try to get ahead of these guys. That’s what I realized the most [today].”

Even with the one rough outing, it’s clear that Harrison is leaving some positive impressions on the big league staff.

“Kyle is as focused as any player that we have in camp,” Kapler said before Harrison’s start. “And to be honest, he’s just as focused as anyone, period. His work is very consistent, his weight training work is very intense, his bullpen work is super focused.

“He’s taking everything in camp seriously, as he should, as we want all of our players to. But I think there’s an elevated level of focus from Kyle that I really appreciate.”

Conforto clocks another homer ahead of first game in the field

It’ll be an eventful week for Michael Conforto, as he’ll make his spring debut in the field on Thursday, a major milestone on his path back from shoulder surgery.

“I keep telling the guys who are like, ‘You’re back,’ that I’m not back until I’m out there playing baseball, playing the field,” Conforto said. “It’ll feel like an accomplishment, for sure, to get back in the field.”

On Tuesday, Conforto hit a homer in his second consecutive game, this time drilling a shot to right off of Graham Ashcraft in the third. It’s a sign to him that a mechanical adjustment to get his hands ready and get his front foot down has paid off.

“I’m starting to feel more like myself a little bit, seeing the ball a lot better,” Conforto said. “I felt like I was making my decision super early early on in the spring. We did a little dive on that and just found that my hands were coming down with me a little bit, so just keeping the hands up.”

So far this spring, Conforto’s exclusively been a designated hitter, which he said he doesn’t like because “it’s hard to stay in the flow of the game.”

Conforto last played in the field on Oct. 3, 2021 when he was with the Mets. Conforto didn’t sign with anyone last season after concerns with his shoulder led him to undergo surgery in late April.

Before the operation, he had one of the strongest outfield arms in the game, with Statcast measuring his hardest thrown ball from the outfield at 93.8 miles per hour in 2021 (outfield velocity data goes back to 2020). Conforto says his arm strength is back, but he still needs to build his stamina back.

“When I go out and throw to bases, I get pretty tired by the end of it and I never used to get tired,” Conforto said. “We’re not even a year out from surgery, so we’re just keep working to the point where I can focus on just being a ballplayer and not worry about the shoulder.”

Conforto said he can make all of the long throws from right field, where he’ll play on Thursday. That’s intriguing to Conforto because president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said in January that he imagines Conforto mostly playing in left field and the other outfield free agent pickup Mitch Haniger playing in right.

Conforto wasn’t sure why his first start will come in right, but he’s fine playing wherever — as long as he gets the repetitions needed at that spot.

Conforto will also get to see two of his best friends from his time with the Mets, Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil, when they play for Team USA against the Giants on Wednesday.

Tyler Rogers pitches too quick

The pitch clock was brought in to help speed the game up. But Tyler Rogers got in trouble for pitching too quickly on Tuesday. With a 1-1 count against Myers, Jonathan India on first and one out in the fourth inning, Rogers was called for a balk by home plate umpire Mark Ripperger, sending India to second and leaving Rogers confused and agitated.

Once Rogers completed the inning, Kapler came out of the dugout and kept Rogers and catcher Roberto Perez on the field, engaging Ripperger in a discussion that nearly took up the entire time between innings.

Both Kapler and Rogers relayed that Ripperger said that the pitcher needs to wait for the hitter to look up and be ready with eight seconds left on the clock. Myers was looking at the pitch clock when Rogers decided to throw, which is a balk.

“I thought in the box at nine [seconds] meant I could pitch there,” Rogers said. “I’ve got to wait until eight.”

Rogers said he was trying to look over at the pitch clocks while standing on the mound today — which are closer to the dugouts than directly behind home plate in Goodyear — but added that doing so affects his concentration.

“The times I looked at the clock and then tried to throw a pitch, I ended up throwing a ball,” Rogers said. “I was trying to do both and then realized you can’t do both.”

Other notes

– Vaun Brown was scheduled to start on Tuesday, but he was scratched with right knee soreness, which Kapler said was in the same knee he had surgery on.