SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants promised they would take the best player available with the fourth pick in the draft. That player also happened to fill a huge need for the organization. 

The Giants selected UCSB right-hander Jackson Flora No. 4 overall on Saturday, adding a potential ace to a farm system that is in desperate need of pitching talent. Flora was the best pitcher available in this year’s draft and is considered the type who could reach the big leagues as soon as late 2027. 

Among the top 10 prospects in the draft, Flora was the best fit for the Giants, and it wasn’t particularly close.

Their farm system has at least four top 100 position player prospects, with others who might get there in the next year or two, but it is short on impact pitching. The big league rotation has no obvious future No. 2 behind Logan Webb, and there’s a chance Flora moves fast enough to join the core Buster Posey has put together.

Kade Anderson, taken third last year, currently is dominating Double-A and could debut for the Seattle Mariners this year. Chase Burns was the first pitcher taken in 2024 and reached the big leagues the following June. 

Flora sits in the upper 90s and has touched triple digits, and scouts view his changeup as a plus pitch, as well. The 6-foot-5 right-hander posted a 1.06 ERA as a junior, striking out 133 batters in 102 innings and allowing just three homers. He was named the national pitcher of the year by multiple outlets and was a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist. 

Flora was born in Walnut Creek and went to Foothill High, where Brandon Crawford once starred. He grew up a Giants fan and has said in recent interviews that he regularly came to Oracle Park with his family during the dynasty years. 

The top of the draft went as expected, with UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky going No. 1 overall to the Chicago White Sox. Late in the spring, the Giants felt there was a small chance that Cholowsky could slide, and they did their due diligence, even sending former UCLA star Brandon Crawford to Los Angeles to see him, but the White Sox didn’t overthink it. 

At No. 2, Tampa Bay took prep shortstop Grady Emerson, who was the top player on some top prospect lists. Catcher Vahn Lackey went third overall to Minnesota. 

The Giants were supposed to pick 15th in the draft but they were a winner of the MLB Draft Lottery at the Winter Meetings in December, moving all the way up inside the top five. This is the sixth time the Giants have had a top-five pick, and they have done extremely well with those selections.

Will Clark, Matt Williams and Buster Posey all proved to be franchise-altering picks. Joey Bart, selected second overall in 2018, didn’t work out quite as successfully. Jason Grilli (1997) is the only other player to be taken fourth overall by the Giants, and they flipped him for Livan Hernandez, who helped them reach the World Series three years later.

This is the highest selection amateur scouting director Michael Holmes has been involved with during his lengthy career, and the Giants are hopeful he continues his recent run going. Bryce Eldridge, their 2023 first-rounder, looks like a budding star and 2025 first-rounder Gavin Kilen will participate in the Futures Game on Sunday. James Tibbs III, their first selection in 2024, was a key piece in the Rafael Devers trade. 

Flora joins a farm system that is on the rise and now ranked 10th overall by Baseball America. He will not be joined by another top-five pick next year, though, despite the Giants entering draft day with the fourth-worst record in baseball. MLB’s lottery rules prohibit them from picking in the top 10 next season. 

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