The San Francisco Giants hold the 29th overall pick in the first round of the 2011 MLB Amateur Draft and have an assortment of needs they'll be looking to address. In addition to the 29th pick, the Giants hold the 49th pick overall in the supplemental round courtesy of Juan Uribe's decision to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The two picks give the Giants an ample opportunity to build for the future. The Giants farm system is in a position where it has promoted some serious talent in the form of Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner, while some of their more recent draft picks have struggled at times. This draft provides the Giants with an opportunity to restock.
SB Nation's John Sickels, the main man behind Minorleagueball.com, put together his first mock draft for the 2011 draft and also put together a supplemental round mock draft. In looking at the San Francisco Giants, Sickels projected them to grab a pair of potential starting pitchers with their two picks. He has the Giants selecting California high school LHP Henry Owens and Puerto Rico high school RHP Jorge Lopez. Sickels described them as follows:
29) Giants: Henry Owens, LHP, California HS: Fits the Giants mold and slots well here talent-wise, plus a home state kid.
49) Giants (for Juan Uribe): Jorge Lopez, RHP, Puerto Rico HS: Doesn't get mentioned often enough, but Lopez has a very projectable upside arm that would fit perfectly with the Giants.
Over at the MLB.com draft database, they compare Owens to Mark Langston thanks to his body type and potential arm:
[Owens] has a good delivery and arm action that allows him to throw his fastball 90-92 mph, peaking at 94 mph. He keeps it down in the zone and knows how to elevate it when needed. His curve, 69-74 mph, has two tiers to it. The first is a slower, Barry Zito-like breaking ball he throws to get strike one. The second is harder and generates more swings and misses. He also throws a slurvy slider, 75-77 mph, with a wide break. He has an advanced feel for a changeup and while he does try to work it in, he hasn't needed to use it a lot at this level.
The Giants current starting pitching has some serious talent at the top. The big league rotation has home-grown products in Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Madison Bumgarner. Newest addition Ryan Vogelsong was originally drafted by the Giants and then dealt to the Pirates in the trade that brought Jason Schmidt to the Bay. Now Vogelsong is back so I suppose he can sort of be considered "home-grown" talent.
After the Giants starting rotation, the cupboard starts to run a little bit thin. Their top prospects are primarily hitters, but they do have Zack Wheeler to lead the way for pitchers. Eric Surkamp also brings some talent but he'll need to bounce back from a hip injury. Given the contract status of Matt Cain (free agent after the 2012 season), the Giants will be looking to add another arm from the minor league system. Picking up a pair of pitchers could really help to rebuild the organization's pitching depth.
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