2018 MLB Draft: Review on Day 1 and Day 2 Selections

The first two days of the MLB Draft has officially come to an end and after the top 5 to 7 picks have been selected, mocks really started to blow up as guys like Kyler Murray, Grayson Rodriguez, and Jordan Groshans became surprise selections and the fall of Matthew Liberatore, Nolan Gorman, and Brady Singer are also part of the shockers. We saw two Florida teammates pitching for the same team in Singer and Kowar to the Royals, Alec Bohm seemingly getting heckled by the female interviewer, Rays making great selections, and more. For the Giants, given all of the whack of the first day of the draft and all the wrenches that were thrown, things went well for them, to possibly a boring one as the names that were tagged on them all along on tons of mock drafts for a couple of months now went to their lap with the selections of Joey Bart and Sean Hjelle (pronounced Jelly). In this post, I will give you my in-depth reports of Bart and Hjelle and my reactions on each pick. Also included is the quick hitters on Day 2 draftees. 

With their first selection, the second overall, the Giants selected Joey Bart, a catcher from Georgia Tech. Before we get into my reaction of the pick, here's my in-depth scouting report of Bart.

Joey Bart  C

6'3" 225 lbs  R/R

Videos: Credits to FanGraphs, Vincent Cervino, Baseball America, Georgia Tech Athletics, and John McNamara

Bart is a huge specimen at a premium position. His frame's thick from his neck down to his feet and is a finished product body-size. He got a thick lower body that should sustain the rigors of catching long-term. Offensively, his frame gives him plus-plus raw power to all fields. He's athletic and I have timed him from home to first at 4.4 seconds and does steal some bases in college (3 stolen bases with 0 caught stealing) but won't be stealing some in pro ball. 

Defensively, he's got a chance to be something special behind the dish. First thing that stands out is his right arm. It is an easy plus to plus-plus tool where the ball has plenty of carry on it. He's quick in his feet and produces a pop time around 1.6-1.8 seconds. His pure arm however allows him to deliver the ball from home to first at just 1.4-1.5 seconds. His glove is sound in terms of catching pitches, his reactions to balls in dirt are great, his overall agility is impressive given his size. The even better thing for him is that he's a field general, he works well with pitchers, he studies other teams, and he calls his own games which is a plus tool in his own right. 

On offense, he's not too shabby either. He changed the location of his hands at the box from head level to shoulder/chest level, something that is very similar to Edwin Encarnacion. He stands upright but hips stays closed pre-swing. His leg kick is what sets up his timing. It's a lengthy leg kick where he generates momentum and further closes his hips while maintaining solid balance. The swing's through the zone for a long time but I have issues with his bat speed where it is only above average at best and relies more on his eye-hand coordination than pure athletic ability. He does have a solid feel for the barrel as he adjusts to the location of the pitches accordingly and he got strong wrists that the ball that he impacts has plenty of carry. The swing and his frame has natural leverage that produces tape measure shots. The more impressive thing is that he doesn't need to swing hard to hit homers towards the opposite field. He can draw a good amount of walks but is an aggressive hitter at the plate and will strike out that's more of a result of his bat speed and barrel control rather than not having a plan at the plate.

Overall, Bart is a two-way force where he can hit 30 homers a season and win a Gold Glove behind the dish and he's got incredible intangibles that will make him a staple at catcher for years to come.

Grades: Hit 50 | Power 60 | Speed 35 | Arm 70 | Glove 60

On the Bart Selection

Looking at the Bart pick, I think the Giants went on and get what they feel to be the most impactful college hitter in this class. I love Nick Madrigal and his hitting and speed and his Altuve/Pedroia comps but I feel Bart will make a tremendous impact on both sides of the ball. Also, the Giants covet power and while Alec Bohm's here to provide the best combination of hit and power in the class, his value defensively is not a match to Bart's. 

Of course, people would question the pick given that the big league club has the cornerstone of the franchise in Buster Posey and it would be a big deal to remove him off the catcher position but I think that the Giants would give Bart all of the time that he needs in the Minors to improve his offensive skills and should not be rushed unlike what the Mariners did with Mike Zunino because they can let Posey play there whenever he wants. But given Bart's polished defensive game and impactful hitting, we should see him move smoothly in the farm where he can actually end up in Augusta late this year and in San Jose next year. Hopefully, we'll see him be called up at around 2020 and by then, we now know what to do with Buster and the whole roster issue. It should be a fun issue to have if Bart pans out as expected. To have two primary catchers playing for 2 decades is a very envious situation indeed, much like the Niners with Montana and Young, and the Packers with Favre and Rodgers. Overall, I like the pick a lot. Salvador Perez potential.

For their second selection, the 45th overall, the Giants selected Sean Hjelle, a right handed pitcher from Kentucky University. Here's my full scouting report on him.

Sean Hjelle  RHP

6'11" 215 lbs.  R/R

Videos: Credits to Vincent Cervino and 2080 Baseball

Hjelle has 80 height, listed at 6 feet, 11 inches and has a long and really wiry body. Good thing is that he has long legs and arms, and the remarkable thing for him is that he has tremendous flexibility, agility, and coordination for a guy his size. He moves and acts like a 6'2" pitcher rather than a 6'11" one. However, if you think that his frame is gonna get filled out tremendously like most projects him to be, I'm on the side where he will not add much to his frame, probably more on the 5-10 pounds because the frame's narrow.

If you think really tall pitchers should be Randy Johnsons with 100 MPH fastball and a backfoot slidepiece, you might probably stop thinking of that notion right now. Hjelle is a control pitcher with smooth, simple mechanics that is easy to repeat. With his hands at face level and standing on the left side of the rubber, he takes a simple side step to get going. His leg kick is a big one, with his knee reaching chest height and shows his flexibility. Even with a big leg kick, he maintains great balance on the mound and doesn't get out of whack out there. He drives off his back foot well, with good extension and stays closed throughout his drive. His arm action is loose and smooth but the arm swing is pretty wide. Not quite Jered Weaver per se but shoulder issues can start to come up if not toned down. The front foot lands closed while his back foot lifts off the rubber and the ball is faced towards shortstop, again, quite a yellow flag for me. His hips turn quickly and he got an above average arm speed that's more of a result of his smooth tempo rather than lack of athleticism. He releases the ball from a high three quarter's slot and stays on top of the ball. His natural height automatically gives him extreme downhill plane. He got a great looking finish and stays balanced to field the ball effectively.

Looking at Hjelle's stuff, he got a solid, well-rounded repertoire. His fastball typically sits at around 90-93 MPH but has shown the ability to touch 97 MPH last year, albeit in short bursts, giving him promise in short relief. Even at a pedestrian level velocity when starting, the fastball plays up because of his arm slot, extreme downhill plane, and good tailing action. His best breaking pitch is a knuckle-curve that sits at 80-84 MPH. The pitch flashes plus but is consistently a solid to above average breaker. The pitch has 12-6 break but lacks game-changing break on it to draw consistent swings and misses. I like the potential of his mid-80s changeup that he repeats his arm action well and has good fade and his slider is a plain, average pitch to give hitters another pitch to think about. His combination of mechanics, coordination, feel for pitching, and athleticism gives him a potential above average command.

Hjelle's unusual athleticism for a guy his size is quite unique and holds his mechanics very well, giving him more ceiling than other pitchers. That said, his solid repertoire that plays up due to his height and command should give him a #3-4 ceiling and the fastball should improve in the pen as a high-leverage guy.

Grades: FB 55 | CB 55 | CH 50+ | SL 50 | CMD 55

On the Hjelle Pick

The Giants deviated from their trend with their second selection with Hjelle. Hjelle is someone that the Giants covet for months and always has a good amount of observers in his starts. They managed to get the guy that they want. There are a lot of guys in the community (including me) that want to for the Giants to draft one of those premier high school guys that are available like Cole Wilcox and especially Kumar Rocker.

I think the Giants don't really love to play the pool game and draft a lot of high schoolers with high signing bonuses to lure them away from their college commitments. I think that's what happened to both Wilcox and Rocker as they might have asked for top 5 money just to turn down offers from major league teams and that caused the Giants to not draft them at that spot and with the way the pool now works, I think it's a risk that they don't have to make. And besides, Hjelle is a good looking pitcher and is a bit of a logical pick when their pick came up. And at least, I am happy that the G's deviate from their norm of drafting an offense-first hitter and drafted a pitcher. Yes, it might not be a high ceiling-type of guy but there are good reports from him so we have to believe with the Giants.

Day 2 Selections

Here are some quick hitting stuff from the day 2 selections and I will dig them deeper during my midseason rankings.

Jake Wong- I watched Wong quite heavily early this year and I am interested with him. I think he can be a Major Leaguer, probably as a back-end starter or as a reliever. He got an easy and clean mechanics, good feel for his craft, and with solid fastball and slider. His changeup leaves plenty to be desired but he can sequence it well.

Blake Rivera- Rivera doesn't work a lot as he only pitch up to 5 innings maximum so chances of him starting are slim but for sure, the Giants will push him to do so. His stuff is very good however with plus fastball and curveball and the changeup also has potential. He throws it over the top like Mark Melancon so this is the guy we should have to look at.

Keaton Winn- Yet another pitcher, Winn has a prototypical pitcher's frame with size and stuff. Primarily a closer, I think it's a good idea to see if he can take on a rotation assignment. The mechanics are all good and he got two good pitches in his fastball and slider.

P.J. Hilson-  The Giants have drafted a toolsy outfielder every year and Hilson adds on to the list. He got a gun from the outfield, he got a loose swing, some pop, great athleticism, a burner on the bases, and has possibly the highest ceiling of the day two selections along with Blake Rivera but the rawest of the bunch.

Edison Mora- In addition to the toolsy outfielders, the Giants love to take a scoop of the Puerto Rican athletes recently and add Mora to the list. He got himself a nice video of him running a 60 yard for 6.74 seconds, solid fielding actions, loose swing and nice athleticism. Let's see how far can the Giants season this raw but promising kid. 

Solomon Bates- Bates is a big specimen from SoCal with a nice fastball and breaking ball. The Giants do love pitchers with a good fastball and can spin a breaker. Relief pitcher for me as his short arm action offers deception.

Ben Madison- Big performer in NAIA with a fastball that can reach up to 96 and yet again, a solid curveball. Plenty of pitchers yet again from the Giants with these picks. Madison has a delivery that is more fitting of a relief role than a starting role.

Alex DuBord- Yet another one of those pitchers with a fastball and a breaker. Giants dig the JUCO field quite a good bit in day 2 with three pitchers that played in junior college. I am not sure where will this end up but he would be a project.


All in all, the first two days of the draft went well for the Giants. In day 1, they got the guys that they really want in Bart and Hjelle. The front office for sure held hands and sang Kumbaya. In day 2, they went very Giantsy so to speak, with a lot of pitchers and toolsy hitters. Let's just believe now in the minor league coaches to turn these prospects into promising Major Leaguers. Wait, we still have the third day coming! I hope you enjoy reading!