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JACKSONVILLE - This pick fit the Giants draft M.O. to a tee. Large, collegiate RHP's attract the Giants attention. They draft a lot of them and throw them against a wall to see how many stick.
I liked the Giants chances of getting him with the second pick early on and he is worth the risk at the spot. Good stuff, room to fill out and he is going to get a lot of leverage and downward plane on the ball due to his size. Plus there shouldn't be a long wait time. You'll know what you have pretty quickly.
I don't think he cracks the Top Ten yet, but perhaps a slot or two below. Rookie ball this year and maybe a High-A slot in the near future. You won't really know what you have until he reaches High-A or Double A. He did compete in the SEC, so good competition should not cause him to wilt.
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A RHP at 6-11, 225 lbs. is rare, but he repeats his mechanics well and his command is good for the size. FB at 91-93 consistently with tops at 95-96. The Giants developmental staff will look to consistently find that 95-96 and probably add a slider/cutter to round out the repertoire. He projects as a mid-rotation starter without the tweeks and a top of the rotation candidate with the adjustments.
Outside of Bart, Hjelle, Wong, Rivera and maybe 6th round HS OF Patrick Hilson, if the Giants get any return elsewhere in this draft it will be pure gravy. The need a big hit from Joey Bart and some return from Hjelle.
Blake Rivera is intriguing with the comps to Craig Kimbrel. 5th rounder Keaton Winn sounds like a prototypical Giants pick, a big, sturdy, college RHP.
Catcher Bart and pitchers Hjelle, Wong, Rivera highlight early-round picks
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants, traditionally a franchise with a college emphasis in drafting, surprised many last season when they took a trio of high-upside high school prospects in the first three rounds of the 2017 MLB Draft.
But in 2018, San Francisco reestablished its focus on college talent, and pitching in particular, as it used the second overall pick on the mature bat of Georgia Tech catcher Joey Bart and took college arms with seven of its next nine picks.
San Francisco added five prospects ranked in MLB Pipeline's top 200, headlined by Bart (No. 6) and a trio of established college aces in Sean Hjelle (Kentucky, No. 44), Jake Wong (Grand Canyon, No. 72) and Blake Rivera (Wallace State CC, No. 111). The club took No. 94 prospect Brett Hansen, a left-hander from local Pleasanton, Calif., in the 38th round, but he is expected to attend Vanderbilt in the fall.
The Giants, who had drafted 19 high schoolers in the previous three Drafts, used 35 of 40 picks on collegiate talent. Ten came from junior colleges, headlined by fourth-rounder Rivera, fifth-rounder Keaton Winn (Iowa Western CC) and 13th-rounder George Bell Jr. (Connors State College), the son of 1987 American League Most Valuable Player Award winner George Bell.
In fact, of the five high schoolers selected by the Giants, only Hansen and speedy sixth-round outfielder Patrick Hilson, drafted out of Nettleton HS (Ark.), were from the continental United States.
Shortstop Edison Mora (Round 7), outfielder Bryan Hernandez (Round 18) and catcher Angel Guzman (Round 21), the other three pre-collegians, were all drafted out of Puerto Rico.
Selected with a rare top-five pick, only the fifth in franchise history, Bart gives the Giants the sure bat they coveted (.359 average, 16 homers, 1.103 OPS in 57 games this season) in a Draft light on premier catching talent, and perhaps an heir apparent to the 31-year-old Buster Posey behind the plate, though the Giants are a "best player available" organization that doesn't consider Major League need in its drafting.
"We, as a philosophy here -- and that's throughout our organization here -- we don't draft for need for what our big league club is, because a lot can happen in a one-year period of time or different years," scouting director John Barr said.
With that in mind, the Giants' selections in the top 10 rounds suggest that this could be a class that builds towards the pitching staff of the future, with Hjelle (7-5, 3.44 ERA) and Wong (9-3, 2.81 ERA) flashing potential as rotation arms.
Rivera's curveball might be one of the best pitches in this Draft, and he has drawn comparisons to Craig Kimbrel for his journey, repertoire and mentality despite having started for two years in college. Winn excelled as both a starter and a reliever at the junior college level.
In total, the Giants drafted 23 pitchers, four catchers, seven outfielders and six infielders. According to MLB Pipeline, the Giants' top 30 prospects include 14 pitchers, two catchers, nine outfielders (including five in the top six) and five infielders.
Do-Hyoung Park is a contributor to MLB.com based in the Bay Area.
This is a good first day haul for the G-Men. I liked Hjelle in this spot early on and his Rank is right there with the Pick.
Bart immediately challenges Heliot Ramos for the top prospect spot, both are 50-55-ish on the scout scale. I would rate Bart higher on my list because he is further along the development path, he is a WYSIWYG. Ramos, you can still dream on, but the dream can still turn into a nightmare. Hjelle could start at or near the Top Ten in the Giants organization and should rise to the big club in 2019 at best or 2020 at worst. Bart, I wouldn't mind seeing this September, but they may want to avoid the "Who's your catcher?" question considering who the current catcher is and his face of the franchise status.
Depending on the price, these three are the most intriguing names left after day one.
Let's go Christmas shopping!!
Rocker has been at or near the top of most list since the pre-season.
Pompey is intriguing in spite of the lackluster scouting reports.
Wilcox might be the best long-term value, unless he is committed to Georgia for two years.
That may be what we are seeing here is the first glimpse of highly rated HS'ers who have either priced themselves out of the early rounds or are totally committed to college.
Some team will take a flyer after the tenth round. The first ten rounds are "must sign" because it has an effect on the dollars allocated to spend.
Nander De Sedas,(HS-SS) and Steven Gingery (LHP) from Texas Tech might also be worth looking at with the next pick
or two for the Giants. Eighty names have been picked so in theory, anyone who was ranked <80 and="" board="" is="" on="" span="" still="" the="">
becomes a good value pick. If you trust your initial due diligence and scouting department.
For this projection for the Giants to make any sense, you almost have to assume they envision Buster Posey's days behind the dish being numbered. Otherwise, collegiate 3B Alex Bohm might be a better pick from a proximate need standpoint. Singer would not be a disappointing pick for me but Swaggerty would certainly be an eyebrow-raiser giver Duggar's spring showing and visions of Heliot Ramos dancing in Giants fans heads.
2. San Francisco Giants – Joey Bart, C, Georgia Tech Bart has long been connected to the Giants. They’ve scouted him arguably as much as any team has scouted any player this spring, and in recent weeks, he’s emerged as the heavy favorite at this pick, with Singer and South Alabama CF Travis Swaggerty representing backup options. GM Bobby Evans and other top club execs saw Mize (at Vanderbilt) and Bart (at Georgia Tech) two weekends ago while the team big-league team was in Atlanta playing the Braves. Skyscraping Kentucky RHP Sean Hjelle is a target in the second round.
The college pitchers, Singer, McClanahan, Gilbert appear to be falling somewhat and my guess is that hurts the Giants more since given the 25-man roster construction re: age, they would seem to crave more immediate help.
I like Hjelle with the second pick, but you have to see who falls, especially among the college arms.
The 6-foot-11, 215 pound right-handed pitcher enters the 2018 season as one of the top pitching prospects in the country.
You can see from the video that is a very tall, lanky right-handed with a cross-body delivery.
His fastball is able to get on hitters quick. I watched him pitched several times in 2017 and he just knows how to get hitters out. I wasn’t as blown away by his stuff as I was hit ability to get hitters our and work deep into games.
We’ll see how he follows up a breakout sophomore season as he tries to move up into the first round of the MLB Draft.
1. Joey Bart 6-2, 215 C Power arm and a power bat, playing a premium defensive position. Good catch and throw skills.
2. Heliot Ramos 6-2, 185 OF Potential high-ceiling player the Giants have been looking for. Great bat speed, early returns were impressive.
3. Chris Shaw 6-3. 230 1B Lefty power bat, limited defensively to 1B, Matt Adams comp?
4. Tyler Beede 6-4, 215 RHP from Vanderbilt projects as top of the rotation starter when he works out his command/control issues. When he misses, he misses by a bunch.
5. Stephen Duggar 6-1, 170 CF Another toolsy, under-achieving OF in the Gary Brown mold, hoping for better results.
6. Sandro Fabian 6-0, 180 OF Dominican signee from 2014, shows some pop in his bat. Below average arm and lack of speed should push him towards LF.
7. Aramis Garcia 6-2, 220 C from Florida INTL projects as a good bat behind the dish with enough defensive skill to play there long-term
8. Heath Quinn 6-2, 190 OF Strong hitter, makes contact with improving approach at the plate. Returns from hamate bone injury.
9. Garrett Williams 6-1, 205 LHP Former Oklahoma standout, Giants prototype, low-ceiling, high-floor prospect.
10. Shaun Anderson 6-4, 225 RHP Large frame, 3.36 K/BB rate. Can start or relieve
11. Jacob Gonzalez 6-3, 190 3B Good pedigree, impressive bat for HS prospect.
12. Seth Corry 6-2 195 LHP Highly regard HS pick. Was mentioned as possible chip in high profile trades.
13. C.J. Hinojosa 5-10, 175 SS Scrappy IF prospect in the mold of Kelby Tomlinson, just gets it done.
14. Garett Cave 6-4, 200 RHP He misses a lot of bats and at times, the plate. 13 K/9 an 5 B/9. Wild thing.
2019 MLB Draft - Top HS Draft Prospects
1. Bobby Witt, Jr. 6-1,185 SS Colleyville Heritage HS (TX) Oklahoma commit. Outstanding defensive SS who can hit. 6.4 speed in 60 yd. Touched 97 on mound. Son of former major leaguer. Five tool potential.
2. Riley Greene 6-2, 190 OF Haggerty HS (FL) Florida commit.Best HS hitting prospect. LH bat with good eye, plate discipline and developing power.
3. C.J. Abrams 6-2, 180 SS Blessed Trinity HS (GA) High-ceiling athlete. 70 speed with plus arm. Hitting needs to develop as he matures. Alabama commit.
4. Reece Hinds 6-4, 210 SS Niceville HS (FL) Power bat, committed to LSU. Plus arm, solid enough bat to move to 3B down the road. 98MPH arm.
5. Daniel Espino 6-3, 200 RHP Georgia Premier Academy (GA) LSU commit. Touches 98 on FB with wipe out SL.
2019 MLB Draft - Top College Draft Prospects
1. Adley Rutschman C Oregon State Plus defender with great arm. Excellent receiver plus a switch hitter with some pop in the bat.
2. Shea Langliers C Baylor Excelent throw and catch skills with good pop time. Quick bat, uses all fields approach with some pop.
3. Zack Thompson 6-2 LHP Kentucky Missed time with an elbow issue. FB up to 95 with plenty of secondary stuff.
4. Matt Wallner 6-5 OF Southern Miss Run producing bat plus mid to upper 90's FB closer. Power bat from the left side, athletic for size.
5. Nick Lodolo LHP TCU Tall LHP, 95MPH FB and solid breaking stuff.
