Will Bednar was the first-round pick of the San Francisco Giants Sunday in the MLB First-Year Player Draft.
Where there’s a Will, there’s a way.
The San Francisco Giants have done much to improve their farm system in recent years, including high-profile picks such as outfielder Hunter Bishop in 2019, and catcher Joey Bart in 2018. The orange-and-black have deemphasized pitching for quite some years though, with the last first-round arm drafted by the organization being Phil Bickford in 2015.
The Giants changed that Sunday, though, selecting Mississippi State right-hander Will Bednar with the 14th overall pick in the MLB First-Year Player Draft. It marks the second time the Giants have drafted a player named Will out of Mississippi State in the first round, the other being Will “The Thirll” Clark in 1982.
Bednar provided some thrills of his own this year in the College World Series for national champion Mississippi State, earning the Most Outstanding Player award after posting a 2-0 record through 18 1/3 innings in the tournament. Bednar’s eternal came in the CWS opener June 12 when he struck out 15 batters through six frames in Mississippi State’s 2-1 win over University of Texas.
A 6-2, 229-pound right-hander out of Valencia, Pennsylvania, Bednar has an older brother, David, who is having a breakout season as a right-handed relief pitcher with his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates.
The headline for the top story at the official Mississippi State baseball website Sunday night read: “Another Will in San Francisco.”
The Oakland A’s selected California high school shortstop Max Muncy with the 25th overall pick. Muncy is not related to the Dodgers slugger of the same name. He is a 6-1 right-handed hitter out of Thousand Oaks High School for a Lancers team that finished the season with a 29-1 overall record and a No. 7 ranking in the state of California. Muncy hit .469 with 11 home runs and 49 RBIs.
Thirty-six players were selected on the first day of the MLB draft through the first and the competitive balance “A” rounds. The draft continues Monday with rounds 2-10, and concludes Tuesday with rounds 11-20.
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