SF Giants lean on pitching in the first half of the 2026 MLB draft

The MLB draft is officially in the books. The SF Giants had a clear need in the farm system and used eight of their first 11 picks to select a pitcher.

Their attention will now turn to signing the draft class. Players selected within the first 10 rounds sign at an extremely high rate. The ones that do not are very much the exception.

In most instances, both team and player have an understanding of what type of signing bonus it will take to sign.

Jackson Flora, Carson Bolemon, and Kaden Waechter led the way for the Giants on the first day of the draft. Bolemon and Waechter have college commitments to Wake Forest University and Florida State University, respectively. The Giants will need to sway them from those commitments, and it will likely take overslot deals to do so. The rest of the draft strategy seemed focused on ensuring that they can get both to sign.

The SF Giants address a clear farm system need with their first 11 picks

Rounds 5 - 10 continued the trend for pitching. They took four pitchers with those six picks. In total, they drafted four fourth-year seniors within the first 10 rounds. That is usually a sign for easy, underslot deals. If this turns out to be true, the Giants will then reallocate those savings to Bolemon and Waechter.

In addition to drafting Peyton Bonds, the Giants selected a pair of infielders with Luke Nixon and Mike Mancini out of North Carolina State University and Vanderbilt University, respectively. Nixon has a hit-over-power profile with good range at second base, and Mancini offered a good blend of power and speed, but with questionable contact skills.

In the sixth round, the Giants drafted Eric Nachtsheim out of McNeese State University. He had a 3.39 ERA in 20 college appearances in 2026. The righty pitcher throws a low-to-mid 90's fastball with a decent shape, but without a strong secondary. He has a low 80's sweeping slider and a changeup.

In the next two rounds, the Giants went with an extreme contrast in terms of arm slots. Beau Bryans was selected in the seventh round, followed by Cody Brasch in the eighth round.

Bryans throws from a sidearm, sidestep arm slow from the left side. By the time he releases the ball, it looks like it is coming from second base. His fastball sits in the mid 90's and has some late carry to it up in the zone. He throws an upper 80's power slider and a mid 80's changeup as well. The lefty pitcher struggled with control in college, and his delivery is difficult to repeat, likely leading to an eventual move to the bullpen.

On the other hand, Brasch throws with an over-the-top arm slot from the right side. The delivery is reminiscent of Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Trey Yesavage. He flashes an upper 90's fastball with a hard, mid 80's breaking ball. Brasch split time in the rotation and bullpen in college, but he fills up the zone with two quality offerings. He will likely begin pro ball as a starter.

The Giants drafted Ian Korn in the 10th round out of West Virginia University. He throws from a high, three-quarters armo slot. Korn has a starter's pitch mix and regularly fills up the zone. He flashes a mid 90's fastball with a mid 80's slider and changeup. The slider generates healthy whiff rates, but there is not enough velocity separation currently with his changeup and fastball

Korn posted a 3.39 ERA with 70 strikeouts and 13 walks in 79.2 frames this year. His profile leans pitchability-over-stuff.

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