Young SF Giants pitcher has been the talk of Spring Training thus far
A young SF Giants pitcher has been very impressive so far in Spring training.
While the SF Giants have made recent splashes by acquiring Matt Chapman and Blake Snell, there has been a young Giants pitcher impressing everybody in Spring Training. Landen Roupp is a name that Giants fans should become familiar with.
Young SF Giants pitcher has been the talk of Spring Training thus far
Roupp is ranked by MLB.com as the 15th-best prospect in the Giants organization. He has done nothing but dominate in the minor leagues, and he has done a little bit of dominating thus far in Spring Training.
He features a tremendous breaking ball and the clip below from his first appearance in spring showcases it in its full nastiness:
That is some pretty nasty stuff from the 25-year-old right hander.
Roupp has been primarily a starter in the minor leagues, but it seems likely that if he does break into the majors at some point in 2024 it will be as a reliever unless the Giants sustain even more injuries to their starting staff.
Last season in Richmond, Roupp had a 1.74 ERA in 31 innings pitched with 42 strikeouts. He missed a good chunk of the year due to a back injury, but it seems that he has picked up right where he left off last year.
On the mound, Roupp features a high-spin curveball with a sinker that gets plenty of armside movement for the right-handed hurler. He flashes a slider that has some potential and a chanegup that that has some quality fading movement. Roupp is a strike thrower and is able to command his curveball as a chase pitch outside of the strike zone as well.
Anecdotally, if you listen to the radio calls or watch the limited Giants Spring Training broadcasts, Roupp’s name has come up a lot as a pitcher that many people in camp have been impressed with.
Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic (subscription required) wrote a piece in which a number of catchers and pitching coaches singled out Roupp for how he has looked in camp.
Given that Roupp has not pitched above Double-A, he will probably not make the team to start the year. However, it would not surprise anyone if he is pitching for the team at some point in 2024.
With how unsettled the bullpen is right now outside of the high-leverage arms, and with the rotation having some question marks despite the Snell signing, Roupp is a valuable piece to have. If he keeps tearing it up in the minors it would come as no surprise to see him in the big leagues in 2024.
