2026 MLB Draft Review: San Francisco Giants

The players

Over the past year, Buster Posey and his team have reloaded the cache of pitching prospects. That process could very well yield a bona fide ace, and Jackson Flora will attempt to be that #1 starter.

Arguably the best overall pitcher in the MLB Draft, based upon polish and pure stuff, Flora finished fifth in DI baseball in strikeouts, with 133 over 102 IP. It was a quintessential dominant season from the right-hander, who threw a hard, upper-90s fastball that regularly flirted with or went into the triple digits. Plus, a wicked slider.

San Francisco’s second first-rounder was Carson Boleman, a South Carolina high school left-hander. Boleman’s fastball will get into the mid-90s and get on hitters fast. He also has the secondary stuff, including a curveball and changeup.

The Giants took another high school pitcher in the second round, Kaden Waechter. The son of former Rays pitcher Doug Waechter, Kaden’s fastball was up to the mid-90s in the 2025 high school showcase circuit, just like Boleman. The younger Waechter’s pitch profile also includes a changeup and cut/slider.

After those picks, the Giants took two players from the New York Tri-State Area. One was Peyton Bonds, the nephew of Barry Bonds. Fitting that another Bonds is in the organization, although he’s certainly not the same kind of player as his uncle. While there is some pop there, he’s an athletic outfielder who can run and hit. Peyton hit .352 this past season at Rutgers.

Hofstra’s Carlos Martinez is one of the best players to come out of the program in some time. Martinez struck out 96 over 76 innings, boasted a good mid-90s fastball and slider, and has a higher floor & ceiling than one would expect from a pitcher in the Northeast. Missed all of 2025 due to injury.

Believe it or not, the player who received the highest signing bonus outside of those players mentioned above was Dalton Wentz. Wentz was given almost $600,000 to forego another year at Wake Forest. High-upside hitter, as Wentz hit for plenty of pop and really made a name for himself in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

Bat speed and power but also swing-and-miss in his game. He struck out 129 over 117 contests across two seasons with Wake Forest.

The Giants also targeted several players who just put up good numbers in college.

Luke Nixon was the hits leader for NC State this past season. Didn’t strike out a lot in 2026, as he fell down via the K only 36 times over 56 games, juxtaposed with 31 walks. He also walked 31 times and hit nine home runs for the Wolfpack.

Eric Nachtsheim struck out 129 batters over 93 innings for McNeese State, good for ninth-most in Division I.

Beau Bryans was a groundball pitcher with Jacksonville State. Bryans also struck out 78 over 66 innings.

Cody Brasch struck out 82 over 74.2 IP for the Ragin’ Cajuns and only walked 21 batters.

Vanderbilt infielder Michael Mancini was the home run leader for the Commodores this past season with 15. It was a much-improved year for Mancini, who hit just four in 2025 after a 15-home-run campaign with James Madison two years ago.