The Giants kicked off the 2025 MLB Draft — their first under new president of baseball operations Buster Posey — by selecting Tennessee infielder Gavin Kilen with the 13th overall pick on Sunday.
2025 MLB Draft presented by Nike
Day 1 (Rounds 1-3): Pick-by-pick analysis
Day 2 (Rounds 4-20): Monday, 11:30 a.m. ET (MLB.com, MLB.TV)
Kilen, 21, was previously selected by the Red Sox — his favorite team growing up — in the 13th round of the 2022 Draft, as a Top 100 prospect out of Milton High School in Madison, Wis. But he opted not to sign with Boston, instead honoring his commitment to play college baseball at Louisville.
A lot has changed since for Kilen, MLB Pipeline’s No. 21 Draft prospect and second-ranked second baseman.
After two years at Louisville, the left-handed-hitting Kilen transferred to Tennessee, where he slashed .357/.441/.671 with a 1.112 OPS and 15 home runs, earning first-team All-American honors from Perfect Game and Baseball America.
There’s no questioning Kilen’s elite bat-to-ball skills: He’s a contact-oriented hitter with a 60-grade hit tool. Pipeline notes that Kilen has a tendency to chase pitches out of the strike zone, though he did have more walks (30) than strikeouts (27) during his junior season.
It remains to be seen how Kilen’s power will project at the next level, as a 5-foot-11 middle infielder. Still, he’s seen significant growth in the power department, increasing his slugging percentage every season. After slugging .338 without a home run as a freshman, Kilen hit the second-most home runs of any Tennessee player in 2025.
Defensively, Kilen profiles as a second baseman, mostly because of average arm strength, though the Giants plan to try to develop him as a shortstop for now. Kilen has plenty of experience there, too, as he started 54 games at shortstop for the Cardinals as a sophomore in ’24.
“It’s a middle-of-the-diamond player who played a lot of shortstop over his three-year college career,” Giants senior director of amateur scouting Michael Holmes said on a Zoom call with reporters. “He also played a little second base. Kind of elite bat-to-ball skills. We’re talking about a career 10% strikeout rate for him in his college years. More walks than strikeouts. We think it’s more of a line-drive hitter, but it was a guy that was able to hit 15 home runs this year, so we think there’s some power to come. Just really excited to have him.”
Kilen’s father, Chris, played baseball at the University of Louisiana-Monroe and was drafted by the Twins in 1993.
COMPLETE GIANTS PROSPECT COVERAGE
The Giants forfeited their second- and fifth-round Draft picks after signing qualified free agent Willy Adames to a seven-year, $182 million deal over the offseason, so they had to wait until the third round to make their next selection.
Here’s how they ended Day 1 of the Draft:
Trevor Cohen, OF (No. 85 overall, third round)
The 2025 MLB Draft will conclude with Rounds 4-20 on Monday, with selections beginning at 8:30 a.m. PT.
