Giants’ Landen Roupp Moves Quickly To Double-A

Righthander Landen Roupp breezed through Low-A San Jose and High-A Eugene in 2022 and finished the season with Double-A Richmond.

His combined numbers at the three levels included a 2.60 ERA with 152 strikeouts in 107.1 innings.

“I’d say he probably had as a good year as anybody we had in the whole organization from a starting pitcher standpoint,” Giants farm director Kyle Haines said.

Considering how dominant lefthander Kyle Harrison was in 2022, Haines’ statement about Roupp takes on added significance. Roupp isn’t quite the prospect that Harrison is, but the UNC Wilmington product’s season clearly has boosted his stock.

Drafted in the 12th round in 2021, Roupp features two key pitches: a sinker that sits in the low-to-mid 90s and a hard slider.

“At times, he can just put (those pitches) right where he wants,” Haines said. “When you have both of those pitches going with command, it makes for a very unfavorable time for the hitters.”

Haines described the 24-year-old Roupp as “laid-back. He’s kind of that quiet competitor. He doesn’t say a lot, but you can tell there’s really good focus to him, both in his preparation and in everyday life.”

Roupp is listed at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds. Haines discussed areas for improvement.

“It’s just consistency combined with working on his body,” Haines said. “The difference between being maybe the No. 3 starter and No. 5 is how well do they stay on top of their conditioning and how well do they consistently command their pitches.”

Roupp walked 3.1 batters per nine innings overall in 2022, but handed out 11 in 26.1 Double-A innings.

Haines isn’t sure where Roupp will begin 2023, but thinks returning to Richmond is likely.

“We’re not going to rush anyone,” Haines said. “I think we’ve seen that with a bunch of players now where you rush them and you live in regret.

“Everyone’s going to move at their own pace, and Landen moved very quickly this year.”