SF Giants: What to look for on Day 2 of the MLB draft

SF Giants MLB Draft Day 2 targets

College Bats: Freddie Zamora, Kaden Polcovich, Casey Schmitt

Zamora is the best prospect of this group and will probably go in round 2. Schmitt and Polcovich are more likely to go between rounds 3-5. Zamora is a potential plus-defensive shortstop who also has the potential to be an above-average hitter. As I mentioned in my pre-draft piece, the Giants are pretty thin at shortstop and Zamora would immediately rank above Tyler Fitzgerald as the best true shortstop in the system.

Zamora suffered a knee injury that took away any playing time his junior season, but he showed a decent jump in his power from his first to second year in school and might have a little more in the tank. Regardless of the power though, Zamora walked more than he struck out in both of his seasons.

Over his collegiate career, Zamora struck out in just 9.3% of his plate appearances while walking in over 11.3% of his trips to the plate. His propensity to get on base and put the ball in play leads me to believe he’ll develop an above-average hit tool.

Polcovich is a small (5-foot-8, 180 pounds) future utility infielder who has flashed the productivity to be a bit more. A JUCO transfer to Oklahoma State, Polcovich really got on scout’s radar at the Cape Cod League last summer. In 40 games, Polcovich put up a .305/.426/.473 triple-slash with nearly as many walks (27) as strikeouts (29). In the abbreviated season, Polcovich was destroying pitching hitting .344/.494/.578 with 19 walks to just 10 strikeouts in 18 games. He has limited arm strength but has fantastic instincts that may allow him to play beyond his athleticism. He should at least be able to handle second base, third base, and left field with a contact-oriented bat that could generate double-digit home runs.

Schmitt is a solid two-way prospect who’s been the closer and third baseman at San Diego State. From my view, he’s a future 45 reliever and batter, which might allow him to consistently contribute 1.5-2.5 wins above replacement with a creative coaching staff and front office. His fastball sits from 92-94mph and has tremendous late-movement that allows it to play up and pair well with a potentially average curveball and splitter. As a hitter, Schmitt is an above-average third baseman with a strong arm and above-average raw power. The hit tool is pretty underdeveloped and he has yet to tap into his power potential, but some scouts are quite high on his potential to develop at the plate with more time.