San Francisco Giants select Notre Dame pitcher Liam Simon in fifth round of MLB Draft
Notre Dame had two players picked in the 2022 MLB Draft in the span of just over an hour. First, it was third baseman/right-handed pitcher Jack Brannigan going to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Then it was right-handed pitcher Liam Simon going to the San Francisco Giants in the fifth round.
The Giants selected Simon with the No. 166 overall pick.
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Simon emerged as Notre Dame’s No. 3 starter down the stretch of a season that ended up in Omaha. Simon even started a College World Series game for the Fighting Irish. Despite battling command issues, Simon went 2-1 with a 4.99 ERA in 30 2/3 innings as a junior. He struck out 56 batters and walked 28.
MLB Network draft analysts made it clear how they see Simon’s future shaking out. One of them declared during Tuesday’s broadcast, “If you’re getting picked today, you’re signing a deal.” The slot value for Simon’s selection is $322,400. He could go back to Notre Dame for two more years of eligibility, but he will likely turn professional.
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Simon would be the second member of Notre Dame’s 2022 weekend rotation to officially depart the program. Ace lefty John Michael Bertrand is out of eligibility. No. 2 starter Austin Temple is a draft hopeful, but he also entered the NCAA transfer portal after former Notre Dame coach Link Jarrett left for Florida State. Temple’s status for 2023 is in question.
To mitigate losses from the pitching staff, Notre Dame brought in Blake Hely from Davidson and Carter Bosch from Georgetown as graduate transfers. Both were used as weekend starters at their former stops. New Notre Dame head coach Shawn Stiffler will have two veteran arms at his disposal to use as he sees fit. It was also reported Monday Stiffler has secured VCU pitching coach Seth Cutler-Voltz for the same position at Notre Dame. Cutler-Voltz oversaw a Rams’ pitching staff that had a team ERA of 3.91 in 2022, which tied the Irish for the No. 9 mark in the country.
The biggest news pertaining to the Notre Dame pitching staff came over the weekend when rising sophomore and freshman All-American Jack Findlay decided to retract his name from the transfer portal and stay with the Irish.
