The San Francisco Giants selected right-hander Eric Nachtsheim in the sixth round of the recent draft, pulling him from McNeese State University where he refined his reputation as a hard-throwing starter with a fastball that consistently exceeds 95 miles per hour.
Fastball-Centric Outlook for Giants' New Reliever
Nachtsheim’s fastball is his primary weapon, accounting for roughly 75 percent of his pitch mix, and it combines a climbing ride up in the zone with a subtle gloveside cut that makes it difficult for hitters to make solid contact. Tobey Schulman of The Toolshed Podcast noted that the pitch’s movement and velocity give it a tough‑to‑hit quality, a trait that stands out even among college’s elite arms.
During the last season he posted a 3.39 earned run average, struck out 129 batters and walked only 21 in 93 innings, a performance that placed him at No. 213 on MLB Pipeline’s draft board and underscored his ability to miss bats despite a relatively high walk rate.
The Giants plan to test him in a rotation role while they develop his secondary pitches, but even if those offerings never fully blossom, his fastball alone projects him as a valuable bullpen piece. The slot value attached to his signing bonus is $370,600, reflecting the team’s confidence in his upside.