SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- There was some inconsistency to Kyle Harrison's 2023 season, both in Triple-A and the big leagues, but when his year was finally done, the young lefty already had a pretty good head start on his MLB highlight reel.
In his home debut in August, Harrison struck out 11 of the 24 Cincinnati Reds who walked to the plate to face him. A few weeks later, he capped his season with five no-hit innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers. They were the kinds of starts you dream of when you're throwing a ball against a net in the backyard as a kid, but Harrison didn't spend any offseason time sitting on the couch and looking back.
"Not at all, I'm not that guy," he said on Monday's "Giants Talk" episode. "I'll watch some good stuff and some film on it if they're good pitches or (if there is) something I did bad, but usually just highlights."
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For Harrison, there wasn't really a reason to look back. When the offseason hit, he was eager to move forward, and the work started right away.
An East Bay native and De La Salle product, Harrison now spends his winters in Scottsdale, following the lead of Brandon Crawford and Logan Webb, who also starred at Northern California high schools before suiting up for the Giants. In particular, Harrison followed in Webb's footsteps, joining him at Push Performance in Tempe for grueling offseason workouts.
Harrison was in the gym five days a week from the start of the offseason, but the work wasn't all physical. There was no doubt at the end of last season that he would start 2024 in the big leagues, so Harrison has been working to find the right five-day routine that can help him recover after starts and prepare for the next one.
"I think just looking back at last year, I had a lot of ups and downs, especially in Triple-A," Harrison said. "I had to deal with an injury. I'm really excited to feel stronger going into this year and adjusting to that five-day rotation. It is different than the minors, where you could be pitching [every] six days or a week, you just never know yet. That's definitely what I wanted to hone in.
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"I was out here all offseason so I wanted to focus on my training, my five-day routine, and just figuring out how I can be the best version of myself every five days."
If the last month is any indication, that best version is going to come out often. Giants officials were buzzing about Harrison's offseason work before camp started and he has been dominant through his first three spring appearances, striking out 12 in seven innings. That's no surprise to his offseason workout partner, who also might be his biggest supporter in the organization.
In Harrison, Webb sees a lot of himself, even though the two throw with different arms and have completely different repertoires. With his deadly sinker-changeup combination, Webb led the Majors in groundball percentage. Harrison lives at the top of the strike zone, relying on an explosive four-seamer and two different types of sliders.
They have different approaches, but Webb knows they share the same mindset. He has flashed a mischievous smile all spring when asked about what the league will see from Harrison, a pitcher he calls "one of the more competitive people I know."
"I thought he did a fantastic job [last year] and he hated it -- and I love that because I'm kind of in the same boat, where I'm pretty hard on myself, and he was pretty hard on himself," Webb said. "You could tell the first day he went into Push [in October], there was a different side to him. A good side. He knew what he wanted to work on, he knew there was some stuff he needed to fix body-wise, and he crushed it."
With Alex Cobb and Robbie Ray rehabbing, the Giants lined Harrison up as their No. 2 starter at the beginning of camp. New manager Bob Melvin isn't all that worried about the expectations that will create. He smiled earlier in camp when asked if Harrison was on track to start the second game of the season, saying he would be thrilled if things actually worked out that way.
For the Giants, this is a long time coming. They shaped their 2020 draft around snagging Harrison in the third round and he has been a top prospect ever since. When Webb emerged as the staff ace and face of the franchise, the hope was that Harrison would soon join him. It's a future both players have thought a lot about.
"I definitely want to follow him up. I think it would be good to go back-to-back days with a different look," Harrison said. "We're going to compete against each other and see who can pitch the better game, and that's ultimately what Cobb and all the other guys want [too]. We want competition. Iron sharpens iron."
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