The Giants are prepared to make a big splash this MLB offseason, with their eyes set on big-name stars like Shohei Ohtani and Cody Bellinger.
While president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and San Francisco's front office put in the work behind the scenes to bolster the roster for 2024 and beyond, Giants manager Bob Melvin looked within and stated the Giants' young pitching staff already is one of the biggest bright spots heading into the new season.
"I think that's a real strength of the organization," Melvin told NBC Sports Bay Area's Laura Britt on the latest "Giants Talk" episode. "It's deep, too. You look at guys like [Keaton] Winn and [Kyle] Harrison. ... And as far as pitching goes with a lot of the injuries, maybe some of the innings limits for some guys when they first get to the big leagues.
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"Depth in pitching is hard to come by, and I think that's somewhere where it's a luxury to have the type of young pitchers we have in the organization."
The team's youth movement became a huge storyline for San Francisco during the 2023 season.
Winn had a solid start to his big league career, but was optioned back to Triple-A a few days later. Then-manager Gabe Kapler said he had confidence the right-hander would help the Giants down the stretch of the long season -- and he did.
In nine games (five starts) last season, Winn was 1-3 and registered a 4.68 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 42.1 innings pitched.
San Francisco Giants
Meanwhile, Harrison teased previews of a bright future in his rookie season with the Giants. Although his 2023 campaign was uneven, he showed flashes of brilliance that, at times, were one of the few bright spots for San Francisco.
The 22-year-old recorded a 4.15 ERA with 35 strikeouts and a 1.154 WHIP.
Harrison said his focus this offseason is to get stronger and become more durable for the team, like Giants ace and his mentor Logan Webb, who he plans to work with all offseason.
Melvin, who became Giants manager in October after the firing of Kapler, is excited to continue to build upon the success of the young pitchers as they, too, hope to secure a rotation spot for years to come.