SF Giants select Florida State outfielder James Tibbs III with No. 13 draft pick
The Giants added a left-handed bat with their lone pick on Day 1 Sunday of the Major League Baseball Draft, selecting Florida State outfielder James Tibbs III.
Tibbs, 21, hit 55 home runs in 176 games over three seasons at Florida State, hitting .338 with an OPS of 1.147. In winning the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year as a junior, Tibbs hit .363 with 28 home runs and 95 RBIs in just 66 games.
The Giants did not have picks in the second and third rounds because free agents Matt Chapman and Blake Snell turned down qualifying offers before signing with San Francisco. They also lost $1 million of their international signing bonus pool.
Tibbs (6-foot-2, 204) is not regarded as particularly athletic and is projected as a left fielder with the potential of moving to first base. He jumped to first-round status with his junior campaign as well as his work in the Cape Cod League with a wood bat last summer with a slash line of .303/.390/472 with six home runs in the Cape Cod League.
The last outfielders selected in the first round by the Giants were Hunter Bishop of Arizona State in 2019 and Heliot Ramos of the Leadership Christian Academy of Puerto Rico in 2016.
At Pope High in Marietta, Ga., Tibbs helped lead his team to the 6A championship in 2018 and a runner-up finish in 2019.
Tibbs will command an approximate rookie contract of $5.27 million, according to MLB.com.