San Francisco Giants select top pitching prospect to start against Miami Marlins

Mason Black will be the starting center for the San Francisco Giants as they prepare to face the Miami Marlins on Saturday night at Oracle Park.

Giants manager Bob Melvin told the media prior to Friday’s game that Black would start. He is not yet on the 26-man roster, so the Giants will have to make a move to open up a spot for Black to make his first start since May 17.

Black, a 24-year-old right-handed pitcher, is the Giants’ No. 8 prospect, according to MLB.com. He’s the Giants’ third-highest-ranked pitching prospect, behind Carson Whisenhunt and Joe Whitman. Whisenhunt is also at Triple-A with Black.

He made his last start against Colorado, when he pitched three innings and allowed four earned runs. He also gave up six hits and struck out two.

Black pitched one more game in relief on May 23 against Pittsburgh, allowing four earned runs in 2.2 innings to go along with three hits. He struck out two and walked two.

The Giants promoted him in early May and he saw three rotations, losing his debut against Philadelphia on May 6. He returns to the Giants with an 0-1 record and an 8.79 ERA.

He has spent the majority of his season with Sacramento, where he has gone 5-6 with a 4.59 ERA, striking out 87 batters and walking 39 in 84.1 innings.

Black, a native of Scranton, Penn., was selected in the third round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Lehigh, where he was named Patriot League Pitcher of the Year after going 7-3 with a 3.11 ERA and 95 strikeouts his junior season.

The Giants kept him out of the professional league in 2021, and he was named an MiLB Organization All-Star in his first full pro season. In 2022 with Class-A San Jose and High-A Eugene, he went a combined 6-4 with a 3.21 ERA in 24 starts, pitching 112 innings and striking out 136.

He spent last season with Double-A Richmond and Sacramento, where he went a combined 4-9 with a 3.71 ERA in 29 starts. He struck out a career-high 155 batters and walked 52 while pitching a career-high 123.2 innings. San Francisco opted to keep him with Sacramento to begin this season.

It’s been a campaign in which the Giants have tapped into their young pitching prospects. Hayden Birdsong recently graduated from prospect rankings, where he was considered a Top 100 prospect. San Francisco also has Kyle Harrison in the rotation, a young left-handed pitcher in his first full season in the majors.