With the 45th overall pick, the San Francisco Giants selected right-handed pitcher Sean Hjelle out of the University of Kentucky. He went 7-5 with a 3.44 ERA in 15 starts this season. He made the transition into the starting rotation in 2017 and won 11 games
for the Wildcats. The wins were the fourth most in a season by a Kentucky pitcher. He also finished with the third most starts and the fifth most innings pitched in school history en route to winning SEC Pitcher of the Year.
As a freshman in 2016, Hjelle served as the team's closer and had eight saves, tied for third on Kentucky's all-time single-season list with Alex Phillips (2012) and Paul Morse (1993). Prior to college, he was a two-sport star at Mahtomedi High School in
Minnesota, where he earned three letters in baseball and four in basketball.