The future is bright for the Giants' starting rotation, as a handful of young, exciting arms are breaking through or soon could break through at the major-league level.
However, there only are so many spots up for grabs.
One of the young pitchers who currently is starting every fifth day, but soon might lose his rotation spot, is 23-year-old lefty Kyle Harrison, who started in the Giants' 6-5 win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday at Coors Field and pitched five innings and surrendered three earned runs with two walks with six strikeouts.
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SIGN UP HERE The outing was a mixed bag for Harrison, who struggled in his previous start against the San Diego Padres on June 4, but it didn't change Mike Krukow's belief in the young southpaw, as the Giants broadcaster shared Wednesday on KNBR 680's "Murph & Markus" that he offered San Francisco's president of baseball operations Buster Posey a glowing review of Harrison in a recent conversation he had with him.
"Buster Posey recently asked me, 'Between Hayden Birdsong, Landen Roupp and Harrison, who do you think is the best one?' And I think it's Harrison," Kurkow told Brian Murphy and Markus Boucher. "I think Harrison because he has so many different ways to get better. Right now, he's a 100 percent four-seam fastball guy."
Krukow recalled a conversation he had with Harrison, where he suggested pitches to the young lefty he should consider adding to his arsenal.
"I asked him one time, 'Do you throw a two-seam?" and he goes 'No' and I go 'Why not?' He says, 'I don't need it.' Well, OK, that's a great attitude to have about a pitch, but as he goes forth, he's going to learn there's a difference between a four-seam and a two-seam fastball," Krukow said.
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"The two-seam fastball is better when you're trying to get ground balls. Basically, he's a fastball/strikeout guy with a lazy breaking ball. So the change-up he's come up with is a good one, but he's not throwing it enough. I think as he goes forth, you're going to see him develop more of a change up and go to it in more situations, he's going to have another fastball to complement that four-seam fastball and I think his body is completely, with his arm release and his arm slot, is perfect for a cutter."
While Krukow ultimately believes the sky is the limit for Harrison, he wouldn't be surprised if the young lefty returned to a bullpen role once veteran starter Justin Verlander (right pectoral injury) returns from the injured list.
"I do think that his ceiling is off the charts," Krukow added. "As to what happens when [Justin] Verlander comes back up, I think you're going to see Harrison go back into the pen."