Taking a Giant step

Seth Lonsway has been a Bulldog and a Buckeye during his pitching career.

Now he's a Giant.

The San Francisco Giants selected the Celina High School graduate and Ohio State pitcher with the 176th selection (sixth round) of the 2021 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft on Monday.

"I was just super-stoked. Excited for the opportunity," said Lonsway via telephone Monday evening after a busy day. "It's been a long journey with a lot of work and time put into it. Nice to take that deep breath after you get the phone call. It's a relieved and satisfying feeling."

The road was a winding one. Lonsway was drafted by Cincinnati in the 19th round of the 2017 draft after graduation from Celina, then wasn't selected when eligible to be drafted in 2020.

Lonsway has high praise for the Giants.

"They have a very good developmental program with their minor leaguers. I'm very excited and my advisors are very excited," said Lonsway. "They think it's a great spot for me to be in. I heard nothing but great things. Brad Goldberg (Ohio State's Director of Pitching Development) has some connections to the Giants' organization and he gave me some reassurance. He said there were good dudes out there who will help (me). That's the plus to the deal."

The 20-round draft started Sunday evening and wraps up today. Rounds 2-10 were held Monday.

"We had some confidence that (a team would call) on day two. We didn't know when, whether it would be early or late," said Lonsway. "My advisors were confident that we would get a deal done today."

After pitching in four games in 2020 and striking out 42 batters before the season was canceled due to COVID-19, Lonsway entered 2021 looking to help the Buckeyes have a strong season that featured only games against other Big Ten schools and no conference tournament.

Lonsway led the team with 98 strikeouts, but had some struggles. He walked 43 batters in 68 innings, hit 12 batters and had 12 wild pitches in going 3-5 with a 4.37 earned run average. His best effort of the season was his 17-strikeout, one-walk compete game effort in a 6-0 win over Indiana in April. Lonsway ended the season earning third team All-Big Ten honors for the second time in his collegiate career.

Lonsway finished with 266 career strikeouts, sixth on the all-time list for the Buckeyes.

The next stop for Lonsway will likely be Scottsdale, Arizona, the spring training home for the Giants. San Francisco has two teams playing in the Arizona League that features drafted and undrafted free agent players.

"Probably I will go out there for instruction and a short fall season," said Lonsway. "Not 100% sure yet. I haven't got the complete information from my advisors and the Giants. We'll head out there in a week or two and get ready to work."