Now that Jackson Flora’s professional career has started on a positive note, the San Francisco Giants pitching prospect will likely get the chance to compete in a game with greater consequences.
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Flora, the No. 4 overall pick in the MLB draft in July, threw a scoreless first inning for Single-A San Jose in its 8-5 win over Fresno on Friday at Chukchansi Park. With a fastball that touched 98 mph, the right-hander Flora, a Walnut Creek native who grew up a Giants fan in Pleasanton and attended Foothill High School, struck out two and allowed a double and walk in his pro debut.
The 6-foot-5 Flora struck out Ashly Andujar looking on a 3-2 fastball to lead off the bottom of the first inning. Then with two on and two outs, Flora got Ronny Ugarte swinging on a 2-2 slider to end the threat.
Flora threw 28 pitches in the inning, 14 for strikes. Before Friday’s game in Fresno, Flora last pitched on Aug. 29 in the “Bridge League,” which bridges the gap between the end of the Arizona Complex League and the beginning of instructional camps.
Now it appears Flora, 21, will get the chance to pitch for San Jose in the California League playoffs, which begin next week.
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San Jose, which won the first-half title with a 37-29 record, will finish the three-game series with Fresno on Sunday to end the regular season and will face a still-to-be-determined opponent in a best-of-three series, with Game 1 on Tuesday on the road and Game 2 at Excite Ballpark in San Jose on Thursday. A Game 3, if necessary, would be on Friday.
As a junior at UC Santa Barbara, Flora went 12-0 with a 1.06 ERA and 133 strikeouts in just 102 innings. He was awarded the College Baseball Hall of Fame and Perfect Game pitcher of the year awards.
KUHNEL ADDED
A day after claiming right-hander Joel Kuhnel off waivers from the Brewers, the Giants added him to the active roster and optioned right-hander Ryan Walker to Triple-A Sacramento. In 35 appearances this season, 25 with the A’s and 10 with the Brewers, Kuhnel was 1-3 with a 4.84 ERA over 35 1/3 innings, with six saves and 22 strikeouts.
Staff writer Justice de los Santos contributed to this story.
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