Scouting the Draft: Day 2 Preview

The Giants made 2 fine picks on Day 1 taking C Joey Bart at #2 overall and RHP Sean Hjelle in Round 2 at #45 overall.  We head into Day 2 with the Giants again holding the second pick, #80, in Round 3.  Glancing at the Top Available board on mlb.com, several big HS names stand out including RHP Cole Wilcox, RHP Kumar Rocker, OF Mike Siani, RHP Adam Kloffenstein and SS Nander De Sedas.  While I would love for the Giants to draft any of those players, I think those birds have likely flown and they are all going to school or to some team that has figured out a way to drop a huge over-slot deal on them, which is getting less and less likely down in Round 3.

4 college pitchers look like  possibilities to me:

RHP Tristan Beck, Stanford(MLB Rank #35).  6'4", 165 lbs.  2016:  6-5, 2.48, 83 IP, 26 BB, 76 K.  2017:  DNP.  2018:  8-4, 2.99, 84 IP, 29 BB, 66 K.  Stock has slipped a lot since he was ranked as a high first round pick early in the 2017 cycle.  He missed the 2017 college season with a back injury.  He competed in 2018 putting up respectable but disappointing numbers.  Has filled out his frame in college and likely weighs more than 165 lbs now.

RHP Blaine Knight, Arkansas(MLB Rank #48).  6'3", 165 lbs.  2016:  2-1, 2.98, 48 IP, 14 BB, 46 K.  2017:  8-4, 3.28, 90.2 IP, 20 BB, 96 K.  2018:  10-0, 2.78, 87 IP, 21 BB, 86 K.  Skinny RHP who way more than held his own in the very tough SEC.  Knight's FB sits 90-94 MPH but has hit 97.  His slider/cutter is a plus pitch and he can also throw a curve and changeup.

LHP Konnor Pilkington, Mississippi St(MLB Rank #60.  6'3", 225 lbs.  2016:  3-1, 2.08, 43 IP, 15 BB, 42 K.  2017:  8-5, 3.08, 108 IP, 47 BB, 111 K.  2018:  2-6, 4.28, 88 IP, 26 BB, 92 K's.  More of a classic pitcher's body than Beck or Knight, his velocity backed up a bit his junior season but he maintained strong K and BB numbers.

LHP Steven Gingery, Texas Tech(MLB Rank #69).  6'1", 210 lbs.  2016:  4-2, 3.18, 68 IP, 31 BB, 63 K.  2017:  10-1, 1.58, 91 IP, 29 BB, 107 K.  2018:  0-0, 0.00, 2 IP, 0 BB, 3 K's.  Gingery is a pitchability college lefty with a great sounding changeup.  He missed most of 2018 with a torn UCL/Tommy John surgery.  One question is how much he thinks he could improve his stock if he went back to school next season.

The Giants may not necessarily go pitcher in Round 3:

OF Kyle Isbel, UNLV.  5'11", 190 lbs, B-L, T-R.  2016:  .319/.376/.444, 10 2B, 8 3B, HR, 7 SB, 17 BB, 42 K, 232 AB.  2017:  .290/.349/.446, 12 2B, 3 3B, 6 HR, 5 SB, 18 BB, 39 K, 231 AB.  2018:  .357/.441/.643, 18 2B, 4 3B, 14 HR, 6 SB, 34 BB, 43 K, 238 AB.  I'm leery of Mountain West batting stats, but Isbel was also an all-star performer in the Cape Cod League which the Giants are well known to scout heavily and put a lot of stock in- .265/.325/.358, 6 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 13 SB, 151 AB.  Isbel is an athlete who has enough wheels to play CF.  Checks a lot of boxes for a classic Giantsy draft pick.

SS Jonathan Ornelas, HS.  6'0", 155 lbs.  B-R, T-R.  Skinny HS SS who can stick and can hit.  Room to grow.  May be signable for close to 3'rd round slot bonus.

Blaine Knight seems to be the safest bet among the pitchers.  I like taking a chance on Gingery's recovery from TJ better than Beck or Pilkington.  There is something that seems not quite right with Tristan Beck and I am very concerned about Pilkington's loss of velocity.

I think Isbel is the best signable player available although I would not mind seeing the Giants make a play for Ornelas' upside.

Prediction:  Kyle Isbel if the Tigers don't take him at #79.

I am pretty much tapped out as far as recognizing any names beyond 3'rd round range although I would love to see them draft OF Bren Spillane(MLB #130) just to see if the bat is for reals.