CHICAGO -- Kyle Harrison is back in the big leagues.
Harrison, the Giants’ former top prospect, was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento on Sunday, giving the club another left-handed relief option ahead of Monday night’s series opener against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Veteran right-hander Lou Trivino was designated for assignment to clear a spot on the 26-man roster for Harrison.
“It was just a combination of performance and what Kyle has done,” manager Bob Melvin said before the Giants’ 9-2 loss to the Cubs. “Kyle is one of our guys in this organization, and there’s probably a little bit of a need for a second lefty that can give you some length.”
The 23-year-old Harrison was viewed as the favorite for the Giants’ fifth starter spot after recording a 4.56 ERA over 24 Major League starts as a rookie last year, but he ended up losing the competition to Landen Roupp after he was slowed by an illness at the beginning of camp.
Harrison opened the 2025 campaign at Triple-A Sacramento, where he logged a 3.46 ERA with 38 strikeouts over 26 innings across his first six starts of the year. He topped out at 97.8 mph while striking out seven over five innings of one-run ball in his last start for the River Cats on Wednesday, an encouraging sign after he averaged only 92.5 mph on his four-seam fastball in 2024.
Harrison spent the offseason rehabbing from a left shoulder impingement that forced him on the injured list at the end of last year, but he was set back even further after he fell ill and dropped approximately 15 pounds at the outset of Spring Training. He focused on rebuilding his strength and “cleaning up stuff in the weight room” during his month-long stint in the Minors, which he believes has helped his velocity tick back up in recent weeks.
“It’s great to see,” Harrison said. “I haven’t seen that in a little while. Going back to the shoulder injury, that was the frustrating part. I just couldn’t get over that hump. My mechanics were bad. I just really took that kind of month and change in Sacramento to feel right and implement those routines and get the arm height up. We’re seeing great results.”
Harrison was fully stretched out in the Minors and has never made an official relief appearance since he was drafted by the Giants in the third round of the 2020 Draft out of De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif. But he’s expected to pitch out of the bullpen for now and serve as the second lefty behind Erik Miller.
“Definitely something new, but I’m going to embrace it,” Harrison said. “I’m here for a reason. I want to help this team win. They thought this was the best way I could help this team win, and I agree right now. We’re going to go have fun in the bullpen and get guys out. The game never changes. We’re still going to get guys out. That’s the goal.”
Harrison said he has already sought out advice from Hayden Birdsong, another promising young starter who is currently being used as a reliever. Birdsong, 23, has mostly handled his own transition to the bullpen with aplomb, though he was tagged for five runs (four unearned) over one-third of an inning in a rough appearance against the Cubs on Monday night.
The clunker -- which included a solo shot by Carson Kelly and costly errors from third baseman Matt Chapman and shortstop Willy Adames -- left Birdsong with a 1.47 ERA over 18 1/3 innings in nine relief outings this year.
“I think one of the reasons that it’s intrigued us to get Kyle here is the way Hayden’s performed,” Melvin said. “These guys have high-end stuff.
“[Harrison’s] pitched well, especially the last couple of times out. The stuff has gotten better, the velo has picked up. At this point, he deserves to be here.”
Trivino missed the entire 2023 and ‘24 campaigns while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, but he came back to win a spot in the Giants’ Opening Day bullpen after impressing as a non-roster invitee this spring. Still, the 33-year-old veteran endured an uneven return to the big leagues this year, posting a 5.84 ERA over 11 appearances for the Giants.
“You look around the league, and there’s going to be opportunities for Lou -- and probably a better opportunity for Lou,” Melvin said. “With the way our bullpen was pitching, he wasn’t getting regular work. He wasn’t pitching in the type of roles that he was used to. I hope he gets a really good job where he gets to pitch a little bit later in the game like he’s used to doing and how he’s performed well in the past.”