For the second straight year, the Giants used their top draft pick on a two-way prospect.
The Giants selected two-way prospect Bryce Eldridge, 18, out of James Madison High School (VA), with the 16th pick.
The selection comes after San Francisco drafted Reggie Crawford, the two-way player out of UConn, last year with the 30th overall pick. Like Crawford, Eldridge is a physical specimen who throws right-handed and hits lefty. Eldridge is 6-foot-7, 233 pounds.
Eldridge is ranked by The Athletic’s Keith Law as the 16th best prospect in the draft. He has more potential as a batter than a pitcher, but does throw a mid-90s fastball.
The 16th pick has a slot value of $4.63 million.
In 2021, the Giants took a pitcher with nine of their first 10 draft picks. Then last year, including Crawford, the Giants selected a pitcher with each of their first six choices.
Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, in his midseason media availability, said he views pitching as a position as strong depth in San Francisco’s farm system. Given that, the club is likely to take a more balanced approach to draft.
Along with their 16th pick, the Giants also have the 52nd and 69th pick of the 20-round draft. The 69th selection comes as compensation for Carlos Roón’s qualifying offer. Those picks will each come on Sunday night.
San Francisco has a bonus pool of $9.9 million.
This story will be updated with the Giants’ draft picks and further information.
Round 1 (Pick 16): Bryce Eldridge, 18, 2-way player
Some call Eldridge “The American Shohei Ohtani.” Asking him to live up to that billing would be impossibly unfair, but the Giants certainly seem to have a type. Both Eldridge and Reggie Crawford, SF’s first-round selection from 2022, are hulking figures who have both talent on the mound and in the batter’s box.
At one point in his high school career, Eldridge got walked 16 of 20 plate appearances. In the four times pitchers gave him anything to hit, he went 3-for-4 with two home runs and a double. It’s only high school, but that’s Bondsian.
Round 2 (Pick 52): Walker Martin, 19, INF
Martin, from Eaton, Colorado, is ranked much higher on MLB’s prospect list (30) than The Athletic’s (77th). He’s one of the highest picked high schoolers to hail from Colorado ever, and has a notably strong power tool.
Martin was the Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year, as he put up video game-esque numbers. He’s a terrific athlete who also quarterbacked his high school football team.
Here’s a delightful local news package on Martin, the dominant high schooler.
As the 52nd overall pick, Martin becomes the highest-selected pure position player the Giants have taken since Patrick Bailey (13th) in 2020.
Martin is committed to Arkansas, so the Giants may have to pay over-slot money to entice him to sign.
Round 2C (Pick 69): Joe Whitman, 21, LHP
With the compensatory pick awarded from Carlos Rodón’s departure, the Giants picked a left-handed pitcher out of Kent State.
Whitman was ranked No. 37 on the MLB Pipeline list, making all three of SF’s first three selections top-40 guys. Whitman, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound lefty, had a 9-2 record and registered a 2.56 ERA in 15 starts at Kent State last year. Before transferring to Kent State, he had previously struggled as an underclassman for Purdue in the Big Ten.
Round 3 (Pick 85): Cole Foster, 21, SS
The Giants made Foster their first collegiate position player of the 2023 draft. Foster, a switch-hitting athlete, had a tremendous junior year at Auburn entering the draft. The Plano, TX native registered a .999 OPS in the SEC, smacking 13 homers while hitting .336.
Like many shortstop prospect, Foster may eventually change positions. One thing’s clear: he certainly plays with a passion.
Round 4 (Pick 117): Maui Ahuna, 21, SS
Ahuna struggled much more than Foster in SEC play last year after he transferred to Tennessee from Kansas. Still, he hit .312 with eight home runs and is considered a plus athlete.
A left-handed hitter, Ahuna is ranked by MLB Pipeline as the 48th best prospect in the draft. He struggled substantially against left-handed pitching and may have to make mechanical tweaks to his swing to produce at higher levels.
At the time the Giants selected him, Ahuna was regarded as one of the top remaining collegiate players available.
Round 5 (Pick 153): Quinn McDaniel, 20, 2B
The Giants continued their emphasis on college position players with McDaniel, who played three years at the University of Maine.
McDaniel is young for his class and is a likely candidate to sign below his slot value of $400.6K, which would help the Giants ink some of their other selections. He was the fourth collegiate second baseman to be drafted.
Round 6 (Pick 180): Luke Shliger, 21, C
Matt Shaw, Shliger’s teammate at Maryland, went 16th overall to the Chicago Cubs. Shliger, though, was the Terps’ team captain.
In 2023, Shliger led NCAA in runs scored and paced the Terps with a .523 on-base percentage. He was a Buster Posey Award semifinalist.
Round 7 (Pick 210): Scott Bandura, 21, OF
Bandura has already lived many baseball lives. The Princeton product caught Mo’ne Davis’ shutout at the Little League World Series in 2014. He’s also cousins with Boston Red Sox beat writer Julian McWilliams.
On the field, Bandura was versatile defensively and dominated in the Ivy League, where prospects rarely reach MLB. He had a 1.119 OPS in his only full college season.
