What a pair of 2026 top picks will bring to the table for the SF Giants

The SF Giants rounded out the first day of the draft by selecting Peyton Bonds and Carlos Martinez in the third and fourth rounds, respectively. What does each prospect bring to the table?

Of course, Bonds is the nephew of Barry Bonds and son of Bobby Bonds Jr. If the Giants targeted one thing besides pitching in this year's draft, it was players with MLB bloodlines.

The Giants selected four players with ties to former major league players, including Bonds, Kaden Waechter, Luke Nixon, and Josiah Kemp. While there is a good chance that the first three players sign, Kemp is more of a wild card.

Peyton Bonds played at Rutgers University over the past two seasons. He was even a college teammate of Trevor Cohen, who was selected in the third round of last year's draft. Bonds posted a .972 OPS with six home runs and 29 RBI in 166 plate appearances this season.

In some sense, this was a high-risk pick for the Giants to make because it is going to test out their ability to develop hitters. Bonds offers a good mix of raw power and contact skills, but this comes with projectable power upside. The Giants will need to work to help Bonds reach that loud power upside.

The SF Giants continued scouring the Northeast in 2026 MLB draft

If you want to know more about Bonds, you are in luck. Brian Recca of Northeast Draft Guide covers the Northeast as well as anyone, which is especially relevant since that is an area the Giants have scoured in recent drafts.

Recca shared what he believes will be some developmental opportunities for Bonds, "He [Bonds] has trouble with sliders, and he likes to swing and chase. The approach is raw. But he does make decent contact, and the ball flies. Feel for the barrel is iffy. I think there are some tweaks to help with that."

In addition to this, Recca shared his scouting grades for Bonds, 'The hit tool is the question, but it 60-or-70 raw power, plus speed presently (could slow down to a 55 or 50), plus arm, average-to-above average in center presently." He compared Bonds favorably to outfield prospect Dakota Jordan because of their raw power profiles with questionable hit tools.

The was not the only player from the Northeast selected in this cycle. The Giants also took pitcher Carlos Martinez out of Hofstra University. He posted a 3.30 ERA with 96 strikeouts and 27 walks in 76.1 innings this season. He missed the entire 2025 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Recca indicated that Martinez has several options he can throw at hitters, "Martinez has two fastball shapes. Mostly 92-95 range, but will get up to 97-98 early. Would probably get into triple digits as a reliever. Hard slider that shows plus often. He also developed a pretty solid changeup. Has a spike curve, too, that has some funky spin."

Martinez was coached by former big league infielder Frank Catalanotto. Recca believes that the young pitcher will benefit from the development programs that pro ball can offer. Catalanotto lauded Martinez's leadership qualities, saying that he has been a captain for the past two years. He also said that Martinez is one of the toughest competitors he has coached.

The right-handed pitcher was not ranked in MLB Pipeline's top draft prospects, so there is a good chance that he agrees to an underslot deal with the Giants.

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