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 last Florida State product selected in Round 1 by the Giants was catcher Buster Posey in 2008. It was the highest draft pick for the Seminoles since the Posey selection at No. 5 overall.
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.
It’s James Tibbs world and we’re all just living in it!!!!!
The first Nole since 2010 with a 3-HR game!
T12 | FSU 10, UConn 8 pic.twitter.com/yAT8g75X7A
— FSU Baseball (@FSUBaseball) June 8, 2024
The Seminoles advanced to the College World Series in 2024 and finished 49-17, with a highlight being a three-home run game by Tibbs in a Super Regional win over UConn. Florida State was eliminated by eventual champion Tennessee in Omaha.
Tibbs’ 27th home run moved him past Posey for the seventh-best single season total in Florida State history.
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.
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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.
