SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — A longtime Bay Area sports fan, Bob Melvin had been following Kyle Harrison’s career since he was a rising star at De La Salle when their paths crossed for the first time last season. The Padres were in town, and Melvin was staying at the hotel across from Oracle Park, which also serves as temporary housing for Giants newcomers before they get settled.
“I saw him in an elevator at the Via and he was standing next to me like he didn’t want to say anything,” the new Giants manager recalled. “I go, ‘I know who you are.’ He goes, ‘Well, yeah, I know who you are, too. I was a big A’s fan.’ But I’ve followed his career. He’s on a terrific trajectory.”
The next step on that trajectory looks to be the Giants’ No. 2 starter behind Logan Webb.
Harrison will start their second game of Cactus League play, when they visit Bruce Bochy’s Texas Rangers in Surprise on Sunday, Melvin said ahead of Saturday’s spring opener.
That would line him up to also start their second game of the regular season.
“If that’s the way it works out, I would like it,” Melvin said.
The 22-year-old left-hander has been locked into the Giants’ rotation since he debuted last season as the organization’s most-anticipated pitching prospect since Madison Bumgarner. After bringing in free-agent flamethrower Jordan Hicks at $11 million per year, the subheadlining spot was hardly guaranteed. But with Harrison under team control through 2029 and Webb’s five-year contract extension kicking in this season, the Giants could have a one-two punch for years to come.
“So far, so good, from what I’ve seen. It kind of matches up with what I heard before he even got to the big leagues,” Melvin said. “Just watching what he does and how he goes about it, how his fastball explodes, there’s some deception in what he does. He’s very confident too.
“All those things, when you’re going through your first full year as he will be this year, all those things kind of resonate and play. You can see when he’s on the mound too, there’s a little bit of a tenacity to him. He throws the ball and he’s kind of all over the place afterward.”
As a rookie last season, Harrison made seven starts with a 4.15 ERA, racking up an impressive list of strikeout victims.
But he pitched beyond the sixth inning just once, totaling only 102⅓ innings for the year between the majors and Triple-A Sacramento.
Under a new coaching staff with a different philosophy — and now, potentially, as the second man up in the rotation — Harrison will be counted on to provide more than that this season. Melvin and his pitching coach, Bryan Price, have said they plan to ride their starters deeper into games
“That’s what we want,” Harrison said. “We want to take that ball and go out there and throw as many zeroes as possible and keep our team in the ball game. That’s the big adjustment that I really want to be ready for this year.
“Coming up last year in the minors, it’s starts every six days, or maybe it’s a week. Now in the big leagues, it’s like four days, here we go again.”
Harrison dedicated himself to the cause over the winter, spending all but a couple weeks over the holidays working out at the team’s Papago Park facilities and with Webb at the nearby independent Push Performance training center. He said he feels ready for the added workload.
It’s just a different feel because this is my second (spring training). So I’m more comfortable knowing all the guys, and it’s good knowing the new staff as well.
“It’s figuring out your routine, what days you want to throw your bullpen, what days you want to lift so you get your body feeling the best for that fifth day. I feel like I’ve got a pretty good routine now,” Harrison said. “Body’s been feeling great, so I’m just really excited.”
On Harrison’s to-do list this spring will be locating his primary pitches — his deceptive heater and putaway slider — as well as refining the rest of his arsenal. He would like to incorporate his cutter to induce more early-count contact, and he’s been picking Webb’s brain about his changeup.
Even as the hometown team’s No. 2 starter, though, Harrison isn’t leading the family in athletic accolades this spring.
Younger brother Connor, a 6-foot-3 freshman at St. Mary’s, was recently named the WCC’s freshman of the week and has four home runs in his past three games. Only three more years until he’s draft eligible, and you’d better believe Kyle will be in touch with scouting director Michael Holmes.
“He’s the hotshot of the family now,” Harrison laughed. “He’s balling out.”
It’s Pablo, honey
Also making the trek to Surprise on Sunday will be Pablo Sandoval, who will make his spring debut at designated hitter.
Sandoval, 37, is one of the few veterans in the lineup for the furthest road trip of spring (a drive of about an hour from Scottsdale Stadium). But Melvin said he gave him the choice to wait until Monday’s home game, and Sandoval insisted on making the trip.
“I don’t know that he knows that he’s DHing yet,” Melvin said with a chuckle. “I think he’s just up for anything. Based on what he’s been telling me, he’s up for anything.”
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It also might have something to do with Bochy, who said last week that he hadn’t seen his former player in person yet but sent his congratulations over text after hearing of his invitation to spring training with the Giants.
Notable
— After being scratched from their Cactus League opener on Saturday, shortstop Marco Luciano (hamstring) is considered “day-to-day,” Melvin said. He won’t travel to Surprise on Sunday but could be in the lineup Monday against the Angels.
— OF Jung Hoo Lee (side) is trending toward making his debut Tuesday, Melvin said. Lee experienced some soreness after taking batting practice early in camp, so the Giants are being extra cautious but aren’t overly concerned. Lee was expected to progress to hitting in the cage Saturday and looked to be giving full effort during outfield drills, even tumbling to the ground while making a throw to the infield.