A conversation with SF Giants 11th round pick Donovan McIntyre

Heading into the final day of this year’s MLB draft, the SF Giants had some draft pool money remaining to splurge on one final prospect. It’s a strategy many teams employ to help them maximize their budgets. Since the first $125,000 of any signing bonus given after round 10 does not count against a team’s pool, it allows teams to offer slightly larger bonuses to players without sacrificing as much of their pools. This year, that splurge took the form of Marian Catholic High School (Illinois) outfielder Donovan McIntyre.

McIntyre has plus-plus speed and has taken massive strides over the course of his senior year in high school. As the draft signing deadline approached, he officially signed with the Giants for a $300,000 signing bonus. Check out our complete Giants draft grades for an overview of the team’s draft class.

I got a chance to talk to McIntyre after he officially signed with the Giants. He shared several details about the work he put in last offseason, the Giants’ interest in him during the pre-draft process, and more.

A conversation with SF Giants 11th round pick Donovan McIntyre.

Wrenzie Regodon: How do you feel right now after finally signing with the SF Giants?

Donovan McIntyre: It was a long process but I’m happy about it and can’t wait to start my journey.

WR: Speaking of the process, how did you know that the Giants were interested in drafting you? Did it start early this year or did it come as a surprise?

DM: There were Giants scouts at lots of my games dating back to like last October and we had a few conversations the days leading into the draft, so I knew they had interest in me.

W: That’s nice. I have seen that you’ve improved by leaps and bounds during the quarantine. Could you talk to me about the steps that you took to take your game to another level?

D: I really got serious about baseball. I kinda just took a step back from basketball and really locked in with my trainer and hitting coach and preceded to put on 20 pounds and knock my 60 time down a lot which helped me in the field.

W: And that 60 time is now around 6.2 seconds, right?

D: 6.23 is my best, but I am consistently in the 6.3-second range.

W: That’s still really blazing fast if you ask me! Could you talk to me about the skillset that you have right now? Like do you see yourself as a lead-off guy focusing on speed and getting on base or as more of a well-rounded offensive guy with strong defense?

D: I see myself as a lead off guy with strong defense. During my past year, I led off hitting .430 with 30 something stolen bases in a shortened high school season while scoring 40 something runs. I pride myself on defense though because I feel that there are few balls that I can’t go get.

W: That’s really good production! How did your coaches at Marian Catholic help you with that production and what is like the main thing they told you that you are taking with you now that you are a professional player?

D: My coaches at Marian stressed the importance of being aggressive on the bases, being able to bunt 1-9, and attacking the fastball. So just having a mindset and idea of what has gotten me to this point and hopefully being able to build on it and reshape it to fit the Giants style of play will hopefully help me as a professional player.

W: Sound advice I must say! Was it hard to leave your commitment to Kent State after getting drafted by the Giants?

D: It was a hard decision especially since all the coaches at Kent had some type of pro ball experience so they know their stuff. What really was the deciding factor was the fact that school will always be there, but I won’t always be 19-22 years old.

W: I see. It’s nice to see you trot out in a Giants uniform man. So, what’s next, my man? Did the Giants coaches talk to you about the next step to your development, perhaps some time in Arizona before the season ends, maybe?

D: From my understanding tomorrow I hit the ground running just to get my feet wet and we will see where it goes from there.

W: Thank you for your time man! Do you have a message you want to share with Giants fans?

D: Thank you, and my only message would be never ever doubt yourself, I didn’t and now I’m where I am preparing to fulfill my dream.

W: Thank you man! I wish you good fortunes out in the field. You are great at what you do, so keep pushing man!

D: Thank you.

The SF Giants added an intriguing young outfielder out of Marian Catholic High School in the 11th round of this summer’s MLB draft. Donovan McIntyre will now look to continue improving his prospect stock as he gears up to make his professional debut.