Giants power up with 2024 Draft haul

The Giants wrapped up the 2024 MLB Draft with Day 3 on Tuesday, taking college pitchers with six of their final 10 selections in Rounds 11-20.

All told, the Giants picked up nine pitchers, four outfielders, two third basemen, one first baseman, one shortstop and one catcher.

Even without a second- or third-round pick -- which they sacrificed by signing qualified free agents Blake Snell and Matt Chapman in the offseason -- the Giants still feel they were able to come away with a promising crop of talent led by Florida State outfielder James Tibbs III, who was selected with the 13th overall pick on Sunday.

• 'It was surreal': FSU product Tibbs drafted 13th overall by Giants

“There’s a lot of hard work, there’s a lot of sweat and tears that roll into these evaluations,” senior director of amateur scouting Michael Holmes said. “But as far as where we’re at as a Draft class, I’m extremely pleased with the outcome here and the players we landed on. It was a unique situation not having [a pick] in the second and third, but I think we navigated it in a really positive manner.”

Here are three takeaways from the Giants’ 2024 Draft class:

Powering up
The Giants seemed to prioritize power at the top of the Draft this year, as their first four picks -- Tibbs, Mississippi State’s Dakota Jordan (fourth round), the University of San Diego’s Jakob Christian (fifth round) and Santa Clara’s Robert Hipwell (sixth round) are all known for their ability to slug. San Francisco added another power bat on Tuesday, taking University of Maine first baseman Jeremiah Jenkins in the 14th round.

• Giants pick up Mississippi State offensive star Jordan

“Being able to add power to the middle of the lineup, especially at the Major League level, is something that we’ll always be attracted to,” Holmes said. “Did we seek out to try to do that at the beginning of the Draft? I’d say probably not. It kind of fell just the way it did. But we’re really excited about how it fell because we think all of these guys have damage potential in the middle of the order.”

The 6-foot-4, 238-pound Jenkins produced back-to-back 20-homer campaigns in his final two seasons for the Black Bears, though he possesses a funky left-handed swing and unorthodox setup with his hands. He was ranked MLB Pipeline’s 199th overall Draft prospect, but he didn’t end up coming off the board until pick No. 418.

“I’ve learned over the years, sometimes it’s really easy as scouts to kind of critique the operation, whether it be his delivery or his swing,” Holmes said. “Sometimes you kind of have to sit back and watch the results a little bit as well. … I’ll leave it up to the hitting coordinators to do what they want to on the Minor League side, but for us, we really like the way his bat works, the way his hands work and the way he controls the zone and hits the ball really hard.”

Leaning into the college ranks
With the fifth-lowest bonus pool in the Majors this year, San Francisco stuck to the college ranks for all but one of its 18 selections. The only high school player drafted by the Giants was 11th-rounder Andy Polanco, a 19-year-old outfielder out of Central Pointe Christian Academy in Kissimmee, Fla.

Polanco was born in the Dominican Republic and spent most of his childhood there, but he became Draft-eligible after moving to Florida a couple of years ago. He is a College of Central Florida commit, but Holmes said he anticipated the right-handed hitter to turn pro and join the Giants' organization by the Aug. 1 signing deadline.

“Just a really unique kid,” Holmes said. “Very skilled. Tons of tools. There’s run, there’s throw. He’s got a great body. He shows the ability to drive the baseball to all fields. There’s power. Just a lot of upside to his potential and what he can become, so we’re really excited about him.”

Local flavor
After taking Hipwell, who's from Santa Cruz, on Day 2, the Giants landed another Bay Area product on Tuesday, selecting UC Santa Barbara third baseman and Palo Alto High School alum Zander Darby in the 12th round (No. 358 overall). The left-handed-hitting Darby was ranked the No. 151 Draft prospect and slashed .275/.347/.420 with six homers over 50 games for the Gauchos this year.

“I think I always get really excited about the local kids,” Holmes said. “He missed some time this year with injuries, so he was banged up a little bit. I’m not sure we saw the best version of him this spring, but I think we really believe in what he can become, both offensively and defensively once he gets healthy.”