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Ahead of the 2021 MLB Draft, it emerged the Giants had one type: college hitters, especially in the first round.
Farhan Zaidi and the rest of the front office flipped the switch by taking Mississippi State right-hander Will Bednar with the No. 14 pick overall.
This was only the start of the San Francisco arms race, too.
The Giants ended up picking nine straight pitchers before finishing the second day with South Florida outfielder Vaun Brown in the 10th round.
Monday started with the Giants’ addition of Fordham left-hander Matt Mikulski, who led all Division I in strikeouts by nine innings at 16.3, with the No. 50 pick overall. After going undrafted in last year’s shortened five-round event, Mikulski returned to Fordham this season and consistently sat through the mid-90s, even reaching 98 mph. The left-hander has a bit of a funky delivery with a low release point and an erase slider.
Mikulski has a perfect 9-0 record with a 1.45 ERA in 11 starts this season. He struck out an absurd total of 124 batters in 68 1/3 innings, walked only 27 batters, and had a WHIP of 0.82.
Later in the day, the Giants also added Division I baseball’s second-best nine-innings strikeout when they went with right-hander Nick Sinacola of Maine. Sinacola has gone 9-3 this season with a 2.04 ERA. His 139 strikeouts were also the second in ID.
Perhaps the Giants’ most intriguing pick of the day came in the fifth round. The Ivy League hasn’t even had a season this year, but San Francisco might have found a gem in Yale left-hander Rohan Handa.
Having started just two games in his first two college seasons, Handa worked alone and joined the Mystic Schooners this summer in the New England Collegiate League, where he looked like a whole different pitcher. Handa went from throwing in the upper 80s last year for Yale to hitting 97 mph in the NECL with a dirty slider. He had a 0.53 ERA for Mystic and struck out 25 guys in 17 innings.
It’s an awesome, straightforward area spotting.
Handa also became the fourth Indo-American pitcher drafted in the past three years. There hadn’t been one in the MLB Draft until 2019.
The Giants stayed the course with college hopes on Day 2, adding only one high school prospect, right-hander Eric Silva of JSerra Catholic High School in the fourth round. They also stayed the course to find Bay Area talent, picking Cal’s right-hander Ian Villers in the eighth round.
RELATED: Why Giants Think Bednar Was Right With The No.14 Draft Pick
It’s no secret that the Giants entered the draft with a heavy farm system. They have two pitchers – lefties Kyle Harrison and Seth Corry – who are considered the top 10 prospects in their farming system. Both were drafted out of high school and neither have hit the double-A yet. Zaidi knows how important pitching depth is and has seen it firsthand at the major league level as the Giants come down. are playing for a championship this season.
Now he’s building depth at the lower levels and adding arms like Bednar who could be quick risers and help the big club in the near future.
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