For the fourth consecutive year, the Giants were active during the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft, selecting right-hander Dedniel Núñez from the Mets with the 12th overall pick.

Núñez was ranked as the Mets’ No. 18 prospect by MLB Pipeline and logged a 4.39 ERA in 16 appearances (15 starts) between Class A Columbia and Class A Advanced St. Lucie in 2019. He struck out 94 batters over 80 innings before landing on the injured list in July with a season-ending right shoulder injury.

Signed out of the Dominican Republic for $10,000 in 2016, Núñez pairs a high-spin fastball that sits in the low 90s with a slurvy low-80s curveball and a changeup. He has a 4.47 ERA over 37 career appearances in the Minors and has served primarily as a starter, but Giants general manager Scott Harris said the 24-year-old will be asked to transition to relief during Spring Training.

“We've been following Núñez for a while,” Harris said. “He has always been a plus strike-thrower, but he showed a velocity spike, up to 97 mph in instructs this year with the Mets, which increased our confidence in the playability of his fastball, especially up in the zone. I think we also expect some increased power to his secondary weapons as he transitions from the rotation to the bullpen. In the end, we were excited to bring an arm of his caliber to camp and give him a chance to compete for a spot in our ‘pen.”

Núñez has never pitched above Class A ball, but the switch to relief should give him a better chance at winning a spot in the Giants’ bullpen, which is short on right-handed options. He’ll join a mix that currently includes newly signed veteran Matt Wisler, Trevor Gott, Tyler Rogers, Sam Coonrod and Shaun Anderson.

Teams pay $100,000 to select a player in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft. If that player doesn't stay on the 26-man roster for the full season, he must be offered back to his former club for $50,000.

Núñez is the Giants’ fourth Rule 5 Draft selection under president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, who also picked left-hander Travis Bergen and outfielder Drew Ferguson in 2018 and right-hander Dany Jiménez in 2019. San Francisco also selected right-hander Julian Fernández from the Rockies in 2017 under former general manager Bobby Evans.

None of those players ended up sticking with the Giants, though Ferguson and Jiménez became repeat Rule 5 Draft picks after being selected by the Mets and the A’s, respectively, this year.

The Giants added to their haul during the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 Draft, selecting outfielder Vince Fernandez from the Rockies, right-hander Ronnie Williams from the Cardinals and infielder Mitchell Tolman from the Mets.

Fernandez, a Livermore, Calif., native, spent the 2019 season with Double-A Hartford, hitting .257 with an .889 OPS and 15 home runs over 74 games.

“We are intrigued by the plus raw power that he showed,” Harris said of the 25-year-old. “He was a guy that our scouts were really high on, specifically for his tools. He has performed at every level in the Rockies' system and has a strong track record against right-handed pitching.”

Williams, 24, recorded a 4.01 ERA across 44 relief appearances between Class A Advanced Palm Beach and Double-A Springfield in 2019. Tolman, 26, hit .256 with a .704 OPS and six home runs over 128 games between Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis in 2019.

The Giants lost only one player in the Rule 5 Draft this year: infielder Jalen Miller, a third-round MLB Draft pick in 2015 who was taken by the Braves in the Triple-A phase. Miller, an Atlanta native, topped out at Double-A Richmond, where he hit .216 with a .619 OPS and 11 home runs in 2019.