San Francisco Giant shortstop Brandon Crawford has had the best season of his career as exemplified in the first half of this season here he is swinging for the fences (San Francisco Chronicle file photo)

By Jessica Kwong

The San Francisco Giants are continuing to enjoy the All-Star break after an eventful Tuesday that saw both the All-Star game and the wrap up of the 2021 MLB draft.

Shortstop Brandon Crawford represented the Giants in the All-Star game. The American League beat the National League 5-2 at Coors Field in Denver. Crawford came off the bench and onto the plate just once and went 0-1 in the NL’s only error.

However, it did not matter as it was only an exhibition game. Crawford is having the best season of his career. His 3.4 WAR is 65.4 percent to his career high of 5.2, even though he has had less than half as many appearances on the plate compared to 2016.

Meanwhile, San Francisco finished the draft on Tuesday selecting the last 10 of their 20 picks. The Giants chose all pitchers until the tenth round and ended up with 14 pitchers, three infielders and three outfielders.

San Francisco first selected right-handed pitcher Will Bednar of Mississippi State with the No. 14 overall pick. The run of nine straight pitcher picks was finally broken when the Giants chose outfielder Vaun Brown in the 10th round.

The players must sign the contracts to make their spots in the organization official. Michael Holmes, the Giants’ director of amateur scouting, believes the organization has a solid chances of inking all their picks.

“I think that we’ll be competitive. We feel pretty good in some areas. We’re just gonna let the process play out,” Holmes said. “I think both parties – the players and their families – know where they’re at and we know where we’re at, but we kind of entered a lot of these ventures knowing how it’s gonna play out.”

It is officially halfway through the season and the Giants sit at the top of the NL West with a 57-32 record.

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