Scott Jenstad pegged Kyle Harrison as the top starting-pitcher pickup of the week wherever he was dropped. The 23-year-old southpaw threw four innings of two-run ball with four strikeouts Sunday while sitting on a 60-pitch cap after a brief bullpen stint. Harrison owns a long minor-league track record of 30 %-plus strike-out rates and still flashes a plus fastball/slider combo that can miss bats in bunches. Jenstad acknowledged the Giants will be cautious with innings and that Justin Verlander’s pec strain could heal quickly, but Harrison’s upside—especially in Oracle Park—outweighs the workload risk in 12- and 15-team leagues starved for starting pitching.

JD Bets played Kyle Harrison over 1.5 earned runs. Harrison is averaging 3.4 ER in 2024 and has allowed at least two in four of five. Washington has been quietly hot—eighth in runs over the last ten, scoring 4.9 per game—so JD thinks the market is under-pricing their offense. He noted that several Nats hitters have success versus Harrison in limited history and questioned why the book hung such a low number, concluding the line is simply wrong.

Kenny G "slightly" preferred San Francisco at –136, citing the matchup of elite versus disastrous bullpens. Rookie lefty Kyle Harrison makes his first start after four solid bullpen appearances and hands the ball to MLB’s best relief unit (2.62 ERA). Washington counters with Jake Irvin (3-1, 3.88 ERA) before exposing a bullpen carrying a 6.27 ERA—the worst in baseball. Offensively, the Giants are cooling (22nd AVG, 17th SLG) but are still 9th in runs, whereas the Nationals’ surface scoring rank (12th) masks middling contact skills (17th AVG/OBP). Trend-wise, both clubs are over machines—San Francisco 16-7-1 and Washington 14-9-1 to the over in their respective home/road splits—but Kenny prefers bullpen stability in a pick’em-ish environment. He expects Harrison to give four to five competitive frames, the Giants’ late-inning edge to decide things, and is willing to eat the modest juice.

Jensen warned that Harrison’s first start of 2025 comes with significant DFS risk. The 23-year-old southpaw has flashed a 96 mph fastball and a 3.38 ERA with seven strikeouts over 5.1 bullpen innings, but manager Bob Melvin said the youngster will be restricted to roughly 60 pitches on Saturday. That ceiling likely caps him at three, maybe four innings—insufficient for a fantasy win and leaving little room for strikeout volume. Facing a Nationals lineup averaging 4.9 runs over its last 10 games and led by left-handed slugger James Wood (12 homers), Harrison’s combination of pitch-count leash and matchup volatility makes him more of a tournament dart than a cash-game option, and season-long managers should wait until he’s fully stretched out.

Joe Pisapia urged deeper-league managers not to overlook Kyle Harrison, freshly summoned to the Giants’ bullpen. Harrison logged 10.2 K/9 with a 3.06 ERA at Triple-A Sacramento and, according to Joe, could leapfrog struggling incumbents in the next couple of weeks if San Francisco continues to search for rotation answers. Even in a relief role, the 22-year-old’s mid-90s fastball/slider combo plays up, but Pisapia’s real appeal lies in being first to market on a potential May starter who is still widely available. He suggested a small FAAB stash in 15-team mixed and NL-only formats before Harrison’s role expands.

Chris Welsh said he is ‘actively adding’ Kyle Harrison even though the rookie left-hander was initially recalled to work out of the Giants’ bullpen. Welsh expects Harrison to bump Landon Roupp from the rotation soon because Roupp just surrendered four runs in five innings and has looked shaky for weeks. San Francisco already used Harrison in a swingman role earlier this year, so stretching him back out will not be a big lift. Welsh believes the club’s willingness to experiment with flexible roles – Harrison to relief, Roupp to relief, Kyle Harrison to rotation – signals a spot start is coming and that Harrison could stick if he flashes his usual mid-90s fastball and double-digit strikeout upside. In 36 Triple-A innings he carried a 29 % K-rate and 13 % swinging-strike rate, numbers Welsh thinks translate immediately in fantasy once he’s starting. He advised scooping Harrison now in 12-teamers before the news cycle catches up.

Chris Welsh said he is ‘actively adding’ Kyle Harrison even though the rookie left-hander was initially recalled to work out of the Giants’ bullpen. Welsh expects Harrison to bump Landon Roupp from the rotation soon because Roupp just surrendered four runs in five innings and has looked shaky for weeks. San Francisco already used Harrison in a swingman role earlier this year, so stretching him back out will not be a big lift. Welsh believes the club’s willingness to experiment with flexible roles – Harrison to relief, Roupp to relief, Kyle Harrison to rotation – signals a spot start is coming and that Harrison could stick if he flashes his usual mid-90s fastball and double-digit strikeout upside. In 36 Triple-A innings he carried a 29 % K-rate and 13 % swinging-strike rate, numbers Welsh thinks translate immediately in fantasy once he’s starting. He advised scooping Harrison now in 12-teamers before the news cycle catches up.