SF Giants: Complete grades of their 2021 MLB draft class

SF Giants 2021 MLB draft grades
Round 2 (50th): Matt Mikulski, LHP, Fordham
Round 3 (85th): Mason Black, RHP, Lehigh
Round 4 (115th): Eric Silva, RHP, JSerra Catholic HS (CA)

Matt Mikulski was a mid-round prospect coming into the spring, but reworked mechanics unlocked premium velocity and added some intriguing deception to the southpaw’s repertoire. Against Fordham’s relatively weak competition, Mikulski recorded an elite 1.45 ERA, struck out 124 hitters, and walked 27 in 68.1 innings pitched (11 starts). He finished his collegiate career with 272 strikeouts over 213 innings pitched with 92 walks and a 3.17 ERA.

On the flip side, Mason Black looked like a potential Day 1 prospect heading into the season but seemed to make some mechanical adjustments that limited his pitch arsenal. He’s flashed the ability to sit in the high 90s and consistently reach 99 and 100 mph, but this season, he mostly worked around 91-94 mph. His slider has looked like a plus pitch at times but similarly seemed to take a step back this spring. As with Mikulski, Black seems to have a decent shot of ending up in the bullpen, but it’s not a bad gamble in the third round.

The Giants passed on Watson to give them more flexibility for later in the draft, and a decent chunk of that savings will probably go to Eric Silva to pull him away from a commitment to UCLA. Silva was not one of the biggest prep pitchers in the draft but was viewed by many public draft boards as a second to fourth-round prospect. As with Black, the Giants are betting on their ability to develop Silva’s premium arm. Time will tell if it pans out.

Silva is a bit undersized, listed at around 6’0,” but has elite arm action and a smooth delivery. He has shown the ability to sit in the mid-90s, touching 98 mph. However, it dipped by the end of the JSerra season, raising questions about his durability. He’s shown a good feel for a low-80s slider and has had occasional flashes with a changeup, but his fastball is his carrying pitch right now.

Silva is more of a control than command pitcher at this point, consistently finding the strike zone while struggling to locate with much precision when there. Of course, that’s fairly normal for a prep prospect. Other than size, he looks exactly like the kind of athletic prospect with easy velocity and consistent delivery that scouts want to see at his age.

Grade(s): B

SF Giants 2021 MLB draft grades
Round 5 (146th): Rohan Handa, LHP, Yale
Round 6 (176th): Seth Lonsway, LHP, Ohio State
Round 7 (206th): Nick Sinacola, RHP, Maine
Round 8 (236th): Ian Villers, RHP, California

When Yale canceled its baseball season this spring, Rohan Handa dedicated himself to working out, and all of a sudden, he transformed from a middle-of-the-pack Ivy League starter to a legitimate pro prospect. He’s started touching 98 mph with a wipeout slider in the mid-80s. He has made five starts in the Northeast Collegiate League and struck out 25, walked eight, and recorded a 1.06 ERA. It’s hard to know what to make of such a massive popup prospect, but at this point in the draft, the Giants are betting on some captivating upside. Handa also is the fourth Indian-American player to be selected in the MLB draft.

Seth Lonsway has been a draft prospect since his senior year in high school back in 2017. Back then, he was an intriguing lefty with a projectable fastball and a potential plus curveball who faced questions about his control. Four years later, the scouting report is basically the same. He consistently racked up strikeouts at Ohio State but also racked up walks. He could move quickly as a reliever if he finds even 35-grade command, but he has the arsenal to stick in a rotation if he can find a way to throw strikes more consistently.

Lonsway and Handa both come with a significant amount of risk but are two of my favorite picks in this class.

Nick Sinacola put up huge numbers without standout stuff at Maine. He’ll likely sign for a significantly below-slot deal as well. He struck out nearly 16 batters per nine innings and averaged nearly 6.2 innings a start. He walked just 23 batters over 79.1 innings and recorded a 2.04 ERA.

Selected as the American East conference pitcher of the year, Sinacola relies on a high-80s fastball that has touched 93 mph but mostly works from 88-92 mph. However, as Giants fans may be accustomed to, Sinacola actually threw his slider, which works in the low-80s, more than his fastball. He’s shown a splitter, but it’s far from a usable big-league pitch at this point. Sinacola is a hard player to project since he probably lacks the velocity to end up in the bullpen but seems like a fringey candidate to start.

Ian Villers is easily the biggest player selected by the Giants in this year’s draft. Listed at 6’6”-245, Villers still looks like he has room to fill out. Nonetheless, primarily a reliever over his career at Cal, Villers is one of the easier selections to project to the back of the bullpen.

He has never racked up the strikeouts most would expect from a premium college reliever, striking 36 in 38 innings this season. However, he did show significantly improved command of the strike zone in 2021 (11 walks) after struggling with that in the past. His fastball velocity has oscillated between 90-97 mph, but it can sit around 96 mph at its best. Unlike most relief prospects, Villers also has three average potential MLB offspeed pitches in a changeup, curveball, and slider. None stand out at the moment, but it is a unique toolset in a college reliever. He’s actually been stretched out a bit at the Cape Cod League this summer. It would not be a complete surprise if the Giants gave him a chance to develop through longer, more abbreviated, outings.

Grade(s): B

SF Giants 2021 MLB draft grades
Round 9 (266th): Mat Olsen, RHP, Central Arizona Junior College
Round 10 (296th): Vaun Brown, OF, Florida Southern
Round 11 (326th): Donovan McIntyre, OF, Marian Catholic HS (IL)

Mat Olsen got three years at the junior college level and took a huge step forward this spring. He struck out 133 batters in 88.2 innings against 30 walks and posted a 2.13 ERA. Committed to Arizona State, the Giants will likely give him an above-slot bonus to keep him away from the Pac-12. As I reached out to more industry sources, Olsen seemed like a prime candidate to breakout next year, reportedly touching 97 mph with his fastball alongside a repeatable delivery and sharp curveball.  I’d heard his stuff was relatively average, but he made up for it with pitchability. It may look like the Giants are paying a premium now, but they think they are buying low on someone who could have ended up going in the first couple of rounds with a strong showing for the Sun Devils.

Not ranked on virtually any public draft boards, Vaun Brown is a classic senior sign. A fifth-year senior out of Division-II Florida Southern, Brown saw a huge surge in power this spring, hitting .387/.462/.793 with 13 homers in 26 games. He carried that strong performance over into the Florida Collegiate Summer League but still had concerning strikeout and walk rates given the competition he played against. He’ll likely receive a bonus around $25,000 and hope to make an impression in his pro debut.

Donovan McIntyre will likely receive a bit of the slot pool savings the Giants accumulated on the first two days of the draft. Committed to Kent State, McIntyre is mostly known for plus speed and a projectable body. He has not recorded particularly high exit velos, but he drew interest from the Chicago White Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, and St. Louis Cardinals leading up to the draft as well.

Grade(s): B-

SF Giants 2021 MLB draft grades
Round 12 (356th): Landen Roupp, RHP, UNC-Wilmington
Round 13 (386th): Jared Dupere, OF, Northeastern
Round 14 (416th): Tyler Myrick, RHP, Florida International
Round 15 (446th): Brooks Baldwin, SS, UNC-Wilmington
Round 16 (476th): Julian Bosnic, LHP, South Carolina
Round 17 (506th): Brett Standlee, RHP, Oklahoma State
Round 18 (536th): Hunter Dula, RHP, Wingate University

Julian Bosnic stands out from the crowd as a legitimate mid-round prospect that could have gone anywhere after round five without batting an eye. The southpaw from South Carolina has flashed high-90s velocity and enough consistency to project as a big-league starter. It would be a boon if he signs, but it’s unclear whether the Giants will have the necessary pool money to get a deal done.

Landen Roupp was an elite performer, posting a sub-3.00 ERA over his career at UNC-Wilmington that lacks a standout pitch but probably deserved a selection late on Day 2. While Roupp is already 22, his teammate Brooks Baldwin is still just 20 and is coming off a breakout season, where he hit 15 home runs and recorded a .933 OPS. He also has fantastic versatility, having played everywhere on the diamond but pitcher and catcher between UNC-Wilmington and the Cape Cod League.

Hunter Dula was a key member of the Wingate rotation en route to the D-II championship. He moved from a high-leverage bullpen role to the rotation and was effective but far from dominant. He seems like a candidate to immediately shift to the bullpen or perhaps work in a swingman capacity.

Similarly, Brett Standlee moved all around the pitching staff for Oklahoma State and finished the year their closer. He relies on a low-90s fastball and sweeping breaking ball.

Jared Dupere absolutely mashed this year for Northeastern, hitting 21 home runs in 43 games. He stole 14 bases but is probably not going to be a difference-maker on the bases at the next level. Limited to a corner defensively, he’s going to have to hit, but he’s excelled in college and at the Futures League.

Finally, while Tyler Myrick might not be the best prospect of the group, he might have the most intriguing path to the pros. Myrick stepped into FIU’s rotation from his first year on campus in 2017 and looked at least like a surefire mid-round prospect before he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019. Since returning, however, he’s been incredibly erratic and unable to find his pre-injury form. Still, he once flashed three potential big-league pitches, highlighted by a potential plus slider. If it all returns, he could be the steal of the draft.

Grade(s): B-

SF Giants 2021 MLB draft grades
Round 19 (566th): Irvin Murr, 3B, Winter Springs HS (FL)
Round 20 (596th): Vance Honeycutt, SS, Salisbury HS (NC)

Fans might not want to get too attached to either Irvin Murr or Vance Honeycutt. Neither are locks to sign at this point in the draft. Honeycutt is particularly hard to see signing since he’s committed to a top program at UNC-Chapel Hill, the same school his father played at. Murr is a bit harder to read. He’s currently committed to a junior college but might have been unsatisfied by his draft interest this year and could plan to change that in 2022.

Murr is an obvious corner bat with massive power potential. Even though he’s just a teenager, he’s already putting up exit velos north of 100 mph, including a massive bomb that featured a 116 mph exit velocity in a home run derby held last year.

Honeycutt is a traditional shortstop with a strong arm and flashes of plus potential on the dirt. While his body still has more room to fill out than Murr’s, he has some power potential of his own. He’s a bit gangly, listed at 6’3”-190lbs, and probably has to settle down some inconsistent movement in his swing, but at this point in the draft, he’d be a fantastic get.

Grade(s): A

Whenever a well-known prospect falls, every organization that passes on said prospect will have their class defined by that decision. The Giants passed on Khalil Watson, and that will probably be on many fans’ minds for years to come. San Francisco clearly thought the pitching depth throughout this draft class was too strong to lose flexibility for later picks on Watson. While I can see how they came to that place and am very intrigued by the collection of arms they’ve assembled, I don’t think they did enough. My opinion would change significantly if they signed all of their picks, particularly Murr, Honeycutt, and Bosnic. While none of them are considered on the same tier as Watson or even Silva, it would add some upside (Honeycutt and Murr in particular) that could make me buy into the method a bit more.

Final Grade:
C+ if Bosnic, Murr, and Honeycutt do not sign
B- if Bosnic signs
B if Bosnic and Murr or just Honeycutt signs
B+ if Bosnic, Murr, and Honeycutt sign

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