Giants strike a balance in 2023 MLB Draft
Maria Guardado
@mi_guardadoThe 2023 MLB Draft is in the books for the Giants, who continued to focus on college players Tuesday during the 10 rounds on Day 3.
Eighteen of San Francisco’s 21 total selections over the three days of the Draft ended up coming from the college ranks. The three high school picks were first-rounder Bryce Eldridge (James Madison High School in Vienna, Va.), second-rounder Walker Martin (Eaton High School in Eaton, Colo.) and 13th-rounder Jose Ortiz (Leadership Christian Academy in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico).
After striking a nice balance between pitchers and position players, the Giants feel they’re coming away with a fresh crop of talent that will help replenish a farm system that appears to be gaining momentum after graduating such prospects as Patrick Bailey, Casey Schmitt, Luis Matos, Tristan Beck and Keaton Winn to the Majors this year.
“I feel really good about it,” said Michael Holmes, the Giants’ amateur scouting director. “I thought the first two days were really successful. I kind of felt like at the end of the day, when you take a larger look at things, we’re really happy with the way things played out. We were able to target some left-handed pitching, some left-handed bats, a lot of the middle-of-the-diamond-type players.”
Here are three takeaways from the Giants’ 2023 Draft:
1. Gambling on prep upside
Despite the overall lean toward college players, the Giants went with two high school standouts at the top of the Draft, nabbing Eldridge at 16th overall and Martin at 52nd. Eldridge and Martin have commitments to the University of Alabama and Arkansas, respectively, but they are expected to turn pro and sign with the Giants.
Eldridge, a right-handed pitcher and left-handed-hitting first baseman, is planning to follow in the footsteps of 2021 first-round Draft pick Reggie Crawford and pursue a two-way path with San Francisco. The 18-year-old is the first high school player to be drafted in the first round by the Giants since Farhan Zaidi took over as president of baseball operations in November 2018.
Listed at 6-foot-7, 223 pounds, Eldridge brings plenty of power on the mound and at the plate, a gift he shares with Martin, a left-handed-hitting shortstop who led the nation with 20 home runs during his senior season at Eaton High.
“The one thing I do want to note on both of those guys is they do have power, but these guys are hitters first,” Holmes said. “We don’t think they’re power hitters that can hit -- we think they’re hitters that have power. That’s an extremely important attribute for us, guys that can control the zone and make a lot of contact.”
2. An intriguing Day 3 pick
University of Louisville catcher Jack Payton was MLB Pipeline’s 148th-ranked Draft prospect entering the week, but he had to wait until Day 3 to hear his name called. The Giants selected him in the 11th round with the 330th overall pick.
Payton, the younger brother of former MLB outfielder Mark Payton, had a slash line of .374/.472/.643 over 48 games in 2023, with 12 homers and a 1.115 OPS. Questions about his defense likely caused his stock to drop.
Still, the Giants feel they can work with him to improve his skill set behind the plate, especially since Louisville has a strong recent history of developing catchers, including Will Smith, Henry Davis and Dalton Rushing.
“We think he’s a guy that does have a lot of reps back there, who has a lot of time behind home plate,” Holmes said. “We feel like he’s a guy who can handle it going forward. The way he receives, his hands and blocks, we think we can help some of his transfer and some of his throwing a little bit. It’s an experienced catcher from a Power 5 school who controls the zone, makes hard contact.”
3. Finding balance
After going heavy on pitchers in the last two Drafts, Zaidi said he expected the Giants to have a more balanced approach this year. That mostly held true. San Francisco ended up drafting eight pitchers, 12 position players and one two-way player in Eldridge.