As baseball begins to come back, it will return with a few more Giants in the organization.
The Giants landed two more undrafted free agents Tuesday, heading south to lock up a Pepperdine pitcher and jack of all trades from Mission Viejo, their fourth and fifth known members of the haul.
Wil Jensen, a 6-foot-3, 170-pound righty from Phoenix, becomes the industry’s highest-ranked signing by the Giants, as he was listed as No. 236 on Baseball America’s top 500.
A 28th-round pick by the A’s a year ago, the 22-year-old was strong in his limited 2020 season, striking out 26 and walking six in 24 2/3 innings, in which he pitched to a 2.19 ERA. It was a strong taste of a bounce-back after 2018 Tommy John surgery, before which he had dominated for Pepperdine (5-0, 0.74 ERA).
The Giants also successfully sold themselves to Brett Auerbach, a do-everything fielder who spent his last two seasons at Alabama.
As a member of the Crimson Tide, Auerbach caught, played third, second, center field and right field. He moved to left in last year’s Cape Cod League, and he should fit right into Farhan Zaidi’s organization.
Offensively, the 5-foot-9 21-year-old seems to further squeeze into the mold, with one more college walk (45) than strikeout (44). The pop has not been displayed for the 190-pound utilityman, but he has swiped 21 bags in 72 NCAA games.
Preceding Jensen and Auerbach as undrafted Giants free agents were high-school outfielder Tyler Forner, Illinois pitcher Ty Weber and NC Central outfielder Carter Williams.