San Francisco Giants Gain Pitcher, Lose Pitcher in Rule 5 Draft

With an open spot on their 40-man roster, the San Francisco Giants picked up a pitcher in the Rule 5 draft while also losing a hurler.

With the end of the Winter Meetings comes the Rule 5 draft, and the San Francisco Giants gained a pitcher and lost a pitcher in the major league phase of the draft. With their second overall pick, the Giants took right-handed pitcher Julian Fernandez from the Colorado Rockies’ organization. Going the other way, the Giants lost pitcher Albert Suarez, who was outrighted off the 40-man roster earlier this offseason, when the Arizona Diamondbacks picked him later in the round.

Fernandez is a hard-throwing, 22-year-old righty out of the Dominican Republic who just finished his fifth season in the Rockies’ organization. He’s made 128 appearances throughout his career, all as a reliever, and owns a 3.65 ERA, 1.358 WHIP, and has struck out 8.1 batters per nine innings.

The big factor for Fernandez is the heat he brings. He “topped out at 103” on his fastball, and he averaged around 100 miles per hour. However, control has been an issue for him (a familiar story for young guys that throw that hard), but he did have his best season in terms of control last season (2.8 walks per nine innings after 7.8 in 2016). He also has never pitched above Single-A, spending the 2017 season with the Asheville Tourists in Colorado’s system.

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Rule 5 picks are never a sure thing, and many are returned to the original organization before playing in a big league for the drafting team, but general manager Bobby Evans said Fernandez “will have a real shot” at competing at the job in the bullpen. With his big fastball, the potential is certainly there to be a contribute to the backend of a bullpen, but reaching that potential so soon will be challenging.

Suarez joins the Diamondbacks’ bullpen after spending two seasons with the Giants. He was mostly reliable in 2016 as a swingman, pitching in long relief and taking spot starts, but wasn’t great in 2017 despite striking out 9.7 batters per nine innings, the best total of his career at any level.

As per the Rule 5 draft guidelines, players selected in the major league portion of the draft have to be kept on the 25-man roster for the entire season after the selection, without being optioned to the minor leagues. If they get through the entire first season, the player returns to normal status for the next year, meaning they can be optioned freely.

Teams also can’t just select players and immediately stick them on the disabled list in an effort to keep them without having them play. They need to be on the active roster for 90 days, and if they don’t meet that requirement the first year, they would need to during the second season.

In the minor league phase of the draft, the Giants added another right-handed pitcher, Eduardo Rivera, from the Cincinnati Reds, and also picked up shortstop Wander Franco from the Kansas City Royals. They also lost three minor league players, with first baseman/catcher Skyler Ewing going to the Atlanta Braves, catcher Martin Cervenka going to the Baltimore Orioles, and right-handed pitcher Andre Muren going to the Blue Jays.

Fernandez is the first player the Giants have taken in the big league phase of the Rule 5 draft since 2009, when they took Steve Johnson, another right-handed pitcher, from the Baltimore Orioles. They returned Johnson back to Baltimore before the 2010 season began.

Next: Giants miss on big targets, but still have options

The last time the Giants lost a player in the major league portion was 2015, when the Toronto Blue Jays picked right-hander Joe Biagani. He stuck with the Blue Jays in 2016, but struggled in 2017 as he spent time as a starter as well as a reliever.

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