SAN FRANCISCO – Mike Yastrzemski knew exactly how to console an emotional Kyle Harrison after the Giants’ homegrown hurler “took it kind of tough” when dealt to the Boston Red Sox in Sunday’s trade for slugger Rafael Devers.
Yes, Yastrzemski’s roots run deep in Boston – his grandfather, Carl, threw out this season’s ceremonial first pitch for the Red Sox – but a trade is also what brought the younger Yastrzemski to the Giants in 2019.
“When you leave your first organization, you don’t know what to expect, especially when you grew up right here and this is the organization you grew up idolizing. It’s not easy to leave,” Yasztrzemski said before Wednesday’s game against Cleveland. “I tried to let him know how good of an opportunity it can be for him and how much he’s going to love it.
“Those fans are incredible and they’re going to be really fun for him to pitch in front of,” Yastrzemski added. “I just told him if he ever needs anything up that way, I’ve got friends and family, and he’ll never be feeling like he’s by himself out there.”
Harrison, 23, is a San Jose native who made his big-league debut with the Giants in 2023, three years after they drafted him out of De La Salle High-Concord. He went 7-7 as a starter last season, and after starting this season at Triple-A Sacramento, he returned as a Giants’ reliever then became an injury-replacement starter. He was warming up for his fifth start when he abruptly got pulled in Los Angeles and informed of his trade.
“Just crazy. They’re like, ‘can you go talk to the manager real quick?’,” Harrison told the Boston Herald. “The first moment, I was like, ‘Man, why are they bugging me 20 minutes before?’ I’m like, maybe they got a little inside trick for where they want me to attack these guys, but no it’s the complete opposite and I was getting shipped off.”
“Next thing you know, I’m here,” added Harrison, who’s with the Red Sox’s Triple-A affiliate in Worcester. “Excited to be here, and I was stoked about the opportunity.”
Giants manager Bob Melvin said Wednesday he has “no doubt” Harrison is going to be good and that’s why the Red Sox insisted that “Harrison had to be part of that deal.” As for the Giants’ pitching depth, Melvin said Carson Whisenhunt and Carson Seymour are prime candidates to come up from Triple-A, when needed.
“To get (Devers), you’ve got to give something up,” Melvin noted.
Despite a delayed cross-country flight Tuesday and bad traffic en route to Worcester, Harrison suited up to watch his new team and said he’s “hungry” to expand his “pitching arsenal” beyond a four-seam fastball.
While the Red Sox arrive Friday night at Oracle Park for a three-game series, Harrison isn’t publicly complaining about his Triple-A return: “Honestly, not really. I know it may sound weird, but it’s baseball. I’ve been in Triple-A a decent amount of time in my life now, and it’s not about where I want to be today, it’s about where I want to be five, 10 years from now and where I see myself getting better, and I think this is a place that I’m gonna get better and develop.”
Still, there is greater geography at play here. “I’m a West Coast kid so this is all new to me, East Coast,” Harrison added to the Herald.
DEVERS ‘NOT OUR HOLY SAVIOR’
While Yasztrzesmki categorized Devers as an impact player who’ll “significantly” enhance the Giants’ lineup, he cautioned against putting too much pressure on his arrival.
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“One of the important things about the trade, this guy is not our holy savior. Right? We’re not putting that pressure on him. We played a really, really good brand of baseball to this point and he wasn’t in the lineup. So I don’t want to ever put that on him in terms of pressure, in terms of stress, in terms of also the rest of the lineup thinking they can just rely on one guy to get the job done. It’s still a team sport.”
As a left-handed hitter with seven career “Splash Hits” into McCovey Cove, Yastrzemski carries some clout and enough understanding of Oracle Park to help Devers’ orientation. “He asked me what the best place is to hit the ball in terms of the ballpark,” Yastrzemski said. “I said, ‘For me, it’s right down the right-field line, or to left field during day games. For you, wherever you want.’ In Fenway, you have the triangle in right-center, too, so it’s not any different for him to visualize.”
Yastrzemski, by the way, predicted that Devers will rack up 12 to 16 Splash Hits over the remaining eight years of his $313.5 million contract.
HOME-FIELD GREETING
Despite losing 3-2 Tuesday night, Melvin embraced the “electric” atmosphere in which the crowd of 36,222 gave Devers a standing ovation each at-bat in a 2-for-5 debut that included an RBI double in the third and a ninth-inning single.
The Giants were denied a “perfect night” when they failed to execute a ninth-inning comeback but Melvin commended how “the fans made (Devers) feel comfortable and that goes a long way.”
NOTES
While Wednesday night’s battery of Justin Verlander and Patrick Bailey came off the injured list, the Giants optioned pitcher Tristan Beck and catcher Logan Porter to Triple-A Sacramento. … Jerar Encarnacion, sidelined the season’s first two months due to a fractured hand, strained his left oblique in batting practice Monday. That resulted in Tuesday’s move to the 10-day Injured List.