The Giants announced that right-hander Sean Hjelle has been optioned to Triple-A Sacramento, with fellow righty Carson Seymour recalled as the corresponding move. Seymour was already on the 40-man roster but will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.
Seymour, 26, was a sixth-round pick of the Mets in 2021. He went to the Giants as part of the 2022 deadline deal which sent Darin Ruf to the Mets and J.D. Davis to the Giants. He has continued climbing the minor league ladder with solid results.
The righty spent 2023 at the Double-A level, primarily as a starter. He logged 112 2/3 innings over 23 starts and five relief appearances, allowing 3.99 earned runs per nine. He struck out 24.5% of batters faced, gave out walks at a 9.2% clip and got grounders on 49.5% of balls in play. He moved up to Triple-A last year with those numbers holding fairly steady. He logged 134 1/3 innings with a 22.1% strikeout rate, 10.1% walk rate and 53.5% ground ball rate.
In November of last year, the Giants added Seymour to their 40-man roster, not wanting him to get plucked away in the Rule 5 draft. He has largely continued to produce in the same manner as previous years. He has thrown 74 innings over 15 starts so far this year with a 3.89 ERA, 25.6% strikeout rate, 11.4% walk rate and 53.6% ground ball rate.
Baseball America currently lists Seymour as the #18 prospect in the Giants’ system, noting that his two-seamer is good at getting grounders while his slider is his best swing-and-miss pitch. BA has some concern about his inconsistent changeup, which leads them to think he may end up as a middle reliever. FanGraphs is a bit more bullish, having given him the #6 spot in the system coming into the year, believing his sinker is an effective enough weapon against lefties to soften platoon concerns, thus giving him a bit more chance to stick as a starter.
For now, Seymour is likely coming up to give the Giants a fresh bullpen arm. They are three games into a stretch of playing 16 in a row. Hjelle pitched in each of the first three contests and may not have been available for the next few days. Seymour will get his roster spot, putting him in position to face major league hitters for the first time.
Photo courtesy of Joe Camporeale, Imagn Images
Isn’t Hjell the guy whose ex-wife claimed he was abusive on social media?
Yep and that is probably the reason for his demotion. Keep him in the minors until the news cycle changes. They’d never admit it, but that is likely the reason.
Really??? Have you seen him pitch?
Yes I have, but only when he is pitching against the Rockies. Honestly almost every opposing pitcher looks like a Hall of Famer to me.
Be fair he is dealing with alot of off field issues he needed a break.
They could have demoted Hjelle sooner. He pitched the last 3 days and gave up 4 runs yesterday. That is likely the reason.
He looked like a batting practing pitcher yesterday, definitely performance.
They took their time if that was the reason.
Yes. Hjelle is in a jam.
Giants are 3 games into a 16 game stretch without a day off. Hjelle has thrown in the previous 3 games, all loses. Bullpen needed a fresh arm.
If SFG continues losing against non-playoff contenders they’re going to be a non-contender too. The Braves are coming on strong.
The Giants were never a playoff contender. They got off to a hot start the first few weeks of the season like mediocre team can do, and have played .500 baseball for the last 75 games. They can pitch but the offense is brutal. Really bad. They are a group of bad hitters with a Rafael Devers thrown in. LOL
There only 3 wild card spots.
This team is a team that overperformed early and won’t finish well. Currently set up for a disappointing 2nd half
Ha ha. Giants on a skid and the coward returns. What a surprise !
Have you seen the new playoff format? Pretty much every team is a playoff contender, except for the White Sox and Rockies. Giants have been in or within a playoff spot all season and their moribund offense is going to come together soon enough. I’ll check back with you in September.
The offense has been bad for a while. Shipped out good bullpen arms for Devers to bring stability that is needed. Hopefully, the bullpen stays strong into the second half and somehow they start hitting.
The only bullpen arm they traded was on the IL. Harrison is and will continue to be a starter for the near future and the reliever they sent is years away from being major league ready
Hjelle probably needs time in AAA to get away from the spotlight, clear his head & get his personal life back on track
Underrated comment
Guy would rake… if only the NL had the pitcher hitting…
Going to have to Seymour from this guy before he proves he’s a big league arm.
Mets really killed it 2021 and 2022 mid season moves. Prime example of why the so called professionals don’t always know what they are doing.
My minor league guy told me earlier this week that Roupp to the bullpen was in the near future. Fast approaching his most innings pitched in a year number. Suggested Seymour was a likely rotation replacement.
Will be interesting how SFG handles getting all these young arms stretched out.
Going to need them all in the next couple of years. Starting to understand why you can’t have too many of these guys in the rotation at one time.
Personal rumors aside, what is Hjelle’s deal this year? His walk rate went up a whole 10%.
Suddenly Seymour…making his major league debut.
They don’t use Hjelle
Seymour is buns. 26 year old rookie lol. Giant’s farm system is trash. They should trade Carson W and eldridge ASAP before they loose their value