The San Francisco Giants drafted right handed pitcher Will Bednar from NCAA Champion Mississippi State with the 14th overall pick. Bednar is a great pitcher who went 6 innings hitless, and arguably won the game for Mississippi State in the deciding game for the College World Series Championship against Vanderbilt. Bednar is a very good selection by the Giants. Bednar has a great slider and should boost the farm system's pitching staff. The Giants were looking at pitchers to boost their farm systems, shown by them selecting 9 pitchers throughout the 10 rounds already in the books. The Giants got their guy in Bednar.
Bednar is sophomore out of Mississippi State. He is 21 years old and has a brother named David Bednar who is currently a reliever on the Pittsburgh Pirates. Both Will and David studied business administration at their colleges. David currently has a 3.09 ERA in 35 innings pitched with 42 strikeouts this year. He has given up 27 hits, 12 runs (all earned), 12 walks, and 5 homers, though. David had been drafted by the Padres in the 35th round of the 2016 MLB Draft, and played well, but was traded to the Pirates in the Joey Luchessi trade that saw Padres pitcher Joey Luchessi go to the Mets as part of a three way trade where Pittsburgh sent Joe Musgrove to the Padres and the Mets sent someone to the Pirates.
In 2021, Bednar was 9-1 in 19 appearences and 16 games started. He gave up only 72 hits, 35 runs (32 Earned), and 26 walks, but had 139 stikeouts in 92.1 innings. He had a 3.12 ERA in 2021. He was used more as a reliever in 2020, having 1 save in 4 appearences (1 started) with a 1.76 ERA in 15.1 innings with 23 strikeouts. He gave up 9 hits, 3 runs (all earned), and 6 walks in 2020. He truly is a strikeout machine and helped lead Mississippi State to a Championship. He will work well into the Giants starting rotation, but he could also be modled to be a reliever, too with his killer slider and tendency to get things done.
My Scout Ratings:
Ratings: 0 to 100
Currently:
Control: 90 Fastball: 86 Slider: 90 Changeup: 70
After Development:
Control: 98 Fastball: 92 Slider: 99 Changeup: 83
Bednar should be able to be in the pros by at most 2025 or 2026 and should be able to show off why the Giants drafted him. I think he will be in San Jose by next year. The Giants are building their pitching staff of the future in the farm division with guys like Seth Corry, Kyle Harrison Sean Hjelle, and Nick Swiney. Within the top 20 Giants Prospects, 8 are pitchers. Behind Farhan, the Giants are becoming better than ever. I imagine the Lineup in 5 years might look like this:
The Starters
The Bench:
Player When they start/Purpose
Luis Matos Shadow Yaz, Play every 3 games
Patrick Bailey Play when Bart is tired
Luis Toribio Shadow Estrada, Play every 2-3 games, Backup DH
Will Wilson Shadow Dubon, Play every 2-3 games, Backup DH
Jairo Pomares Shadow under Yaz, play at least once every 5 games
The Subs
Starting Rotation:
Kevin Gausman
Seth Corry
Logan Webb
Kyle Harrison
Sean Hjelle
Starting Rotation
Relievers:
Player Role
Will Bednar Middle/Long Relief/Stopper/Emergency SP: He is a rookie and will be ushered into Starting Rotation next year (2027). Makes at least 5 starts in the year (2026)
Camilo Doval Setup
Zach Littell Stopper/Setup
Caleb Baragar Middle Relief/Backup Closer
Nick Swiney Middle Relief/ Emergency SP
Tyler Rodgers Closer
The Relievers
