MLB mock draft consensus shifts at last second for SF Giants as familiar name emerges

For a while now, most MLB mock drafts have had the SF Giants taking high school shortstop Jacob Lombard. It’s been very consistent, but just in the last day the consensus has shifted back to right-handed college pitcher Jackson Flora out of UC Santa Barbara.

MLB Pipeline’s latest mock draft has the Giants selecting Flora with the No. 4 overall pick as does the final ESPN mock draft. It’s odd because many of the first mock drafts these same people released had the Giants picking Flora and now they’ve come back to him at the end after flirting with Lombard for a while although Keith Law of The Athletic still has Lombard going to the Giants.

The MLB Draft starts on Saturday at 10 AM PST. We will all find out who the Giants should pick fairly soon and it seems many fans would prefer a Flora selection over a Lombard one. While teams don’t draft for need, the farm system could certainly use an infusion of young talent on the pitching side. The Giants have more than enough promising young middle infielders.

In my own sort of “dream” mock draft posted last night I had the Giants selecting Flora because many consider him the best pitcher in the draft and he’s a local kid with Bay Area roots who grew up cheering for the Giants. Oh yeah, and he can touch 100 miles per hour with his fastball, has a wicked changeup, and had a 1.06 ERA with 133 strikeouts in 102 innings last season.

The Giants need to start drafting and developing more pitching talent especially since it’s become abundantly clear they are unwilling to sign premier free agent pitchers. Flora is a guy who, at the age of 21, could potentially be a rotation arm in two to three years. We all remember that the team’s championship years were built upon young homegrown arms so maybe drafting Flora would represent an attempt to recreate that formula although there's always a chance that this late shift to Flora could be some form of gamesmanship or deception from the Giants.

The MLB Draft can be unpredictable

There are no guarantees on who the Giants will pick, though. Crazy things can happen and we know that their dream selection would be UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky who is also a Bay Area native. Many expect him to go in the top-three, but the Giants have certainly made it clear they are interested in him.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today left open the possibility that Cholowsky could fall to the Giants by posting on social media that the Chicago White Sox, who hold the No. 1 overall pick, could make a “surprise” pick by going with catcher Vahn Lackey, Flora, or outfielder Drew Burress although that seems unlikely.

If Chicago picked Flora or Burress that could lead to the Tampa Bay Rays taking shortstop Grady Emerson with the No. 2 pick, the Minnesota Twins taking Lackey at No. 3, and then Cholowsky being available for the Giants at No. 4. It’s highly unlikely but there’s a way to imagine it.

Speedy outfielder Eric Booth Jr. is a name who has been connected to the Giants as well at No. 4. He is known for his wheels so he’d provide an infusion of speed for an organization that has said it wants to get faster for years.

But it seems the ball is breaking back towards Flora at the last second. We will see if these draft experts are right or if the Giants choose to go a different route with the No. 4 pick.

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