Kyle Harrison will pitch for the Giants on Tuesday. The question is, for how long?
Though he will start the game, Harrison has been on a restrictive pitch count in the minor leagues this season. In 21 starts, he’s pitched only five innings once, and has typically thrown between three and four. The River Cats have let him get up to 80 pitches twice, but that number has typically hovered around 70.
Because of that, Susan Slusser believes anything over three innings should be seen as a real head-turner in Harrison’s debut on Tuesday.
“If he does somehow get on a nice roll he could go five, it’s going to be a matter of pitch count though,” Slusser said on Papa & Lund Tuesday. “I would say they’re probably going to be very happy if they get four, three is probably more likely for a first time out and they way they’ve been using their pitchers. They really don’t like guys kind of going through — except for the exception of the two real starters in the rotation — they really aren’t letting guys go through the lineup more than once. Maybe once and a bit.”
In a different circumstance, the Giants would probably use an opener with a “featured arm” that is only expected to toss between three and five innings, but it doesn’t make sense to throw Harrison into an unfamiliar situation in his MLB debut.
It’s a bit of a trail by fire against a strong Phillies lineup, but the Giants need Harrison if they are going to hold onto their wild-card spot.
“I think three is going to be the thing, but if it’s four of five that’s a very, very good thing, and that’s going to have been one heck of a start,” Slusser concluded.
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