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

SF Giants MLB Draft Day 2 targets

Intriguing Seniors or Old Juniors: Chris Lanzilli, Mason Erla, Brett Auerbach

Lanzilli was selected by the Giants last year in the 37th round and they’ve shown a propensity to draft guys in back-to-back years. While Lanzilli still has a year of collegiate eligibility left, he’ll be 22 years old in a week and might be more inclined to go pro. Scouts seem to grade Lanzilli without any above-average tools, but his production at Wake Forest has been very good and he did well on the Cape as well (.293/.365/.467). He’s definitely limited to left field defensively, so the bat will have to carry him, but he seems like an intriguing 5th round or free agent option.

Auerbach probably doesn’t make sense for the Giants (a senior-sign catcher), but he’s still one of my favorite senior prospects. According to an industry source, the Alabama catcher is drawing interest from at least half of teams as a potential free agent or underslot signing. He’s young for his class (still only 21), and has played second base, third base, and the outfield well all while holding his own behind the plate. He wasn’t great with the bat as a junior, but he made the Cape Cod League All-Star team last summer and appeared to have taken tremendous strides at the start of this season.

Erla is my favorite wild-card pitcher in this class. Already nearly 23, Erla has remade his body over the past year, and scouts were excited to see if his progress held into the spring. Since the season got cut short it’s still quite uncertain, but there’s no doubt that he was a different pitcher. After struggling to get swings and misses for his entire Michigan State career, Erla had 14.5 K/9 in his 4 spring starts. He’s technically a redshirt-junior because he missed almost all of 2017 with an arm injury, but at his age I expect a team to take the jump.