For most of the buildup to the MLB Draft, the Giants have been tied to one name over and over: high school shortstop Jacob Lombard. That picture has changed in a hurry.
In the last day, the momentum has swung back toward UC Santa Barbara right-hander Jackson Flora, and now both MLB Pipeline and ESPN have the Giants taking him with the No. 4 overall pick in their latest mock drafts. It’s a familiar turn for those projections, too.
Some of the earliest mocks from those same outlets had Flora going to San Francisco before Lombard took over the conversation for a stretch. Keith Law of The Athletic still has Lombard landing with the Giants.
The draft begins Saturday at 10 AM PST, and the final call is almost here. A lot of fans would clearly prefer Flora, and it’s not hard to see why.
San Francisco’s system could use more impact pitching, and the organization already has plenty of promising young middle infielders. Teams don’t draft for need, but the fit is obvious enough.
Flora also checks a lot of boxes beyond roster balance. In a “dream” mock draft posted last night, I had the Giants taking him because many view him as the best pitcher in the class, and because he’s a Bay Area kid who grew up rooting for the Giants. He brings a fastball that can reach 100 miles per hour, a wicked changeup, and he posted a 1.06 ERA with 133 strikeouts in 102 innings last season.
The bigger point is simple: the Giants need more homegrown pitching. They have shown they are not going to chase the premier free-agent arms, so developing their own has to be part of the plan.
Flora, who is 21, could be a rotation piece in two to three years. That kind of timeline fits the kind of arm San Francisco has leaned on in its championship years, even if this late surge toward Flora could also be a bit of smoke and mirrors from the Giants.
Of course, nothing is locked in. The Giants’ dream target appears to be UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, another Bay Area native, though most projections have him going in the top three. San Francisco has made its interest clear, and there is at least a path - however slim - for him to fall.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today added to that possibility on social media, saying the Chicago White Sox, who pick first, could go with catcher Vahn Lackey, Flora, or outfielder Drew Burress in a “surprise” move. If that happened, the board could get interesting fast: the Tampa Bay Rays could take shortstop Grady Emerson at No. 2, the Minnesota Twins could grab Lackey at No. 3, and Cholowsky might still be sitting there for the Giants at No. 4.
That chain of events feels unlikely, but it’s not impossible.
Another name that has come up for San Francisco is speedy outfielder Eric Booth Jr., who would bring a different kind of juice to the organization. He’s known for his wheels, and speed has been something the Giants have talked about wanting for years.
Still, the late movement keeps pointing back to Flora. Whether the experts have finally landed on the right name or the Giants decide to zig somewhere else, the No. 4 pick should tell us plenty about where they want this thing to go.
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