Giants discover cure for Harrison hiccups by hitting the baseball hard

San Francisco beat the Diamondbacks 11 – 5 despite initial struggles from their young southpaw

The San Francisco Giants erased an early 5-1 deficit by posting 10 unanswered runs to defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks 11 – 5.

Facing starter Brandon Pfaadt, San Francisco hitters bagged three runs on six hits over the right-hander’s 1.1 innings of work. They collected 15 hits and scored in every inning but the 6th and 7th with a plate approach geared towards improving on their situational hitting woes from last season. Wilmer Flores collected a sacrifice fly as the line-up punched in four runs with two outs and went 7-for-21 with runners in scoring position. The quality of contact was fairly significant as well: 18 of the balls put in play registered exit velocities of 95 MPH or higher, while 12 of those came in at 100 MPH or higher.

Notable performances:

Kyle Harrison (1.2 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 44 pitches)

Over their first 11 games, the San Francisco Giants pitching staff had the lowest ERA in the Cactus League. The starters have yet to turn in an ugly outing…until Kyle Harrison took the mound against the Arizona Diamondbacks this afternoon.

The D-Backs tagged Harrison for five runs in the 1st inning — a rough line punctuated by catcher Gabriel Moreno’s 3-run 450 feet blast. Uncovering the problem in Harrison’s second appearance won’t require much soul searching. Ketel Marte lined a four-seam fastball to center to lead-off the bottom of the 1st. Jake McCarthy turned on the next pitch—another four-seamer—for a 106 MPH double to right. A couple batters and a couple runs later he couldn’t locate three of his four four-seamers to Eugenio Suárez, ultimately losing the D-Backs third baseman on an errant heater head-high. Moreno, the next batter, turned another lifeless four-seamer into a crooked number long ball.

Harrison threw 19 four-seam fastballs over his 1.2 innings of work — only 43% of his pitch total which should tell you everything you need to know about how the young lefty felt about his signature pitch. Its velocity averaged just above 91 MPH, more than a click slower than what it was during the 2024 season (92.5 MPH) and two clicks off his 2023 average (93.5 MPH).

We’re living in a cut-throat, fast-and-furious society that lambasts 89 MPH fastballs. There’s nothing that will set off those brooding internet trolls quicker than low velocity in the zone. Yes, Harrison needs to get some more zip on the heater, but the velocity we saw today isn’t a real concern for two reasons. One, he had thrown only two innings this spring before today. The ol’ cannon is still warming up. Two, Harrison does not rely on velocity like other fastballers. Deception in his delivery makes up for the perceived deficit in speed. For Harrison, a 90 MPH fastball isn’t necessarily dead on arrival. A 90 MPH loitering over the pull-side heart of the plate absolutely is.

Command, man. It’s always about command. Harrison doesn’t have velocity to fall back on. It’s a safety net he doesn’t have even when firing on all cylinders — so he’s got to get-up and Van Gogh with the pitch he relies on 60-percent of the time. Paint those corners. Elevate. The northern third of the zone is where the fastball needs to be. He got there with the last pitch he threw. Just 92 MPH but placed at the top of the zone: Suárez swung under it for strike-three.

A brush stroke worthy of the portrait of Postman Joseph Roulin.

Photo by VCG Wilson/Corbis via Getty Images

Credit to Bob Melvin for pulling Harrison out of the game in that moment, because that’s the pitch the 23 year old has got to sink into the sinews of his muscle memory. Forget everything else about today’s outing, Kyle, just remember that pitch.

Willy Adames (2 – 4, 3 RBI, HR, 1B, K)

The free agent splash of the winter went yard for the first time this spring, breaking a 5-5 tie in the 4th with a 417 feet solo shot to right-ish center.

As F.P. Santangelo pointed out over the radio broadcast, the big fly in Arizona would’ve probably been tracked down in Oracle’s triple’s alley (especially with the D-Back outfielders patrolling it), nor was it struck off the most feared of competitors, just one journeyman John Curtiss (an ex-teammate of Adames with the 2020 Rays) who’s thrown 22 MLB innings over the last three seasons.

Okay, now you can put the umbrella away, no more rain on this parade — because he hit one! The first one’s outta here and outta the way. May there be many more to come…

Casey Schmitt (1 – 3, HR, 2 RBI)

Vying for one of the last roster spots, infielder Casey Schmitt made sure the powers-to-be were paying attention when he stepped into the batter’s box with two moments of loud contact.

He jumped on a first-pitch slider (off MLB reliever Scott McHough) that left his bat at 106 MPH with a .470 xBA and would’ve buried itself in the left field corner for an RBI double if not for a nice stop by Suárez. In the 3rd inning, he tied the game with a 2-run home run off reliever Kyle Nelson that left his bat at 112 MPH.

Fun fact: Going into today’s game, San Francisco had a team total of 14 homers from 14 different people. After Schmitt’s dinger in the 3rd, he’s now got a commanding squad lead with…two.

Sam Huff (2 – 2, 2B, 3 R, 2 BB)

Though he had only played in 13 games for the Giants last year and hadn’t played in a game since May 4th, Tom Murphy was considered the incumbent (a rather expensive one) to the back-up catcher job until a mid-back disk herniation sowed doubt that he’d be an option for Opening Day. The role isn’t a vaunted role on a Major League roster, but it is a necessary one, and someone has got to fill it.

Sam Huff made a significant push for it in Wednesday’s win.

The 27 year old Huff, who was claimed off waivers from the Rangers in January, wasn’t retired at the plate while smoking a 114 MPH single in the 2nd off Pfaadt and a 108 MPH double in the 5th in his sixth appearance as a Giant this spring. Huff logged only 3 games in the Majors in 2024 but posted a .746 OPS in 111 games in AAA ball. He slashed .256/ .289/ .512 in 21 games (43 AB) in 2023.

But this ain’t no gimme! Huff has competition with veteran Max Stassi, who collected his first hit (105 MPH single in the 8th) and RBI as a sub in today’s game. The 33 year old Stassi spent the entire 2023 and 2024 seasons on the IL with the illustrious Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Angels organizations while recovering from various hip ailments. He’s two years removed from his last whiff of big league action when he hit .180 with a .570 OPS over 333 at-bats in 102 games.

“Competition” might be generous…