Longtime pitching prospect Kyle Crick made his major league debut for the Giants on Thursday night, tossing 2 and 1/3 scoreless innings in the 12-11 loss to the Braves. Crick was a first-round draft pick by San Francisco in 2011, and was expected to be ready to join the major league team year’s ago, but struggled with his command at the Double-A level.
Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow was not impressed by what he saw from Crick over that past three Spring Trainings, and was skeptical as to if the right-hander would ever become a serviceable player. Krukow changed his tune after seeing Crick on Thursday, however, and believes he has exercised some “demons” with regards to issues finding the strike zone.
“Well I saw a guy who believes in his stuff,” Krukow told Murph & Mac. “I mean he attacked the strike zone, and this is something I haven’t seen a whole lot. The only time I’ve ever seen Crick is the last three Spring Trainings, and after having watched him I was a little discouraged because he had no clue where the strike zone was. He just wasn’t developing rapidly. They envisioned him being with the big club a couple years ago, but his inconsistency and strike zone really held him back.
“Now, he’s the product of hard work. I mean he’s really worked. He knows he has a great arm, and he’s worked to be able to find the strike zone. Congratulations to him because he’s had to overcome some demons to get a command of the baseball, and maybe it’s his time, maybe he’s ready to go. That was a contribution yesterday that allowed the Giants to come back and held the game in check so that was a good shot in the arm and he’ll definitely be getting the ball again.”
Listen to the full interview below. To hear Krukow’s comments on Crick, skip to the 11:13 mark.