Baseball writer highlights what makes Eric Nachtsheim's fastball so unique

The SF Giants loaded up on pitching in the draft. This includes taking hard-throwing pitcher Eric Nachtsheim in the sixth round out of McNeese State University.

Jackson Flora, Carson Bolemon and Kaden Waechter anchored this year's draft class for the Giants. Of course, they also added Peyton Bonds in the third round.

Before the draft, the Giants were soft on pitching prospects and addressed that area of the farm system with some of their top picks. They also selected interesting pitchers later in the draft as well. They seemingly targeted power stuff, funky arm slots, or a combination of both.

Nachtsheim leans more on power stuff. He has a fairly typical, three-quarters arm slot from the right side. There is not much deception in his delivery or even his pitch mix. Opposing hitters expect to see a healthy dose of fastballs, and his offering ranked as one of the best in college baseball.

The right-handed pitcher posted a 3.39 ERA with 129 strikeouts and 21 walks in 93 frames this past season. He appeared in 20 games, including 12 starts.

SF Giants draft pick Eric Nachtsheim had one of the best fastballs in college baseball in 2026

MLB Pipeline ranked Nachtsheim as the No. 213 prospect in this year's draft class, noting that he tallied 98 of his strikeouts with his fastball. The fastball does a lot of the heavy lifting in his arsenal, as he throws it 75 percent of the time. He also has a slider and a changeup, but neither one grades out as a quality offering.

What makes the fastball so unique? Tobey Schulman of The Toolshed Podcast shared that it is a true out pitch because of its movement, 'It’s just such a tough pitch to barrel up. [Nachtsheim] uses it very frequently, yet it’s so effective due to the movement he has on it. It can peak in the upper-90s, so the velocity paired with the shape of it makes for a really uncomfortable pitch to face as a hitter."

Nachtsheim's fastball gets plenty of riding action up in the zone, and it generates some gloveside cutting movement as well. In terms of usage and pitch shape, it does remind me a lot of Jake McGee's fastball. McGee once talked about how the Los Angeles Dodgers helped him recognize that his fastball had two-plane movement, so he began increasing its usage. By the end of his career, the veteran reliever was throwing it over 80 percent of the time.

The first step for the Giants will be to get Nachtsheim to sign. He is a fourth-year senior, so that should not be an issue. His pick carries a slot value of $370,600. They will likely try Nachtsheim out of the rotation and see if they can get either one of his secondaries to improve. If not, he still has an above-average fastball that should play well in the bullpen.

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