Giants’ top prospect Eldridge embracing fast-tracked MLB journey

Giants’ top prospect Eldridge embracing fast-tracked MLB journey originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SACRAMENTO — Bryce Eldridge thought he set the bar pretty high at the beginning of his first full professional season.

The 19-year-old hoped to finish the year in Double-A, which not only would represent a tremendous season for a 2023 draftee, but also would allow him to get back home. Eldridge grew up about 100 miles from the Giants’ Double-A affiliate R, and when he held his own against Low-A pitching and then turned it up several notches in High-A, the Giants sent him to Richmond for the final weeks of the season.

They quickly changed their minds.

After just nine games in Double-A, Eldridge was brought back to California to play in Triple-A Sacramento’s final eight games. The third promotion surprised even Eldridge, and it knocked the ceiling off expectations for the Giants’ top prospect. It’s now realistic to wonder if he might be in the big leagues next April, and it’s not totally out of the question that the Giants just push all their chips to the middle and have him start next season in the big leagues.

Eldridge, who will turn 20 next month, isn’t one to shy away from the improbable.

“I want to get up there as quick as I can,” Eldridge said on the Giants Talk Podcast. “I’m going to let the higher-ups make that decision, but I’m going to do everything I can to make it hard for them to keep me down here in the minors. The biggest thing is staying healthy and just staying positive, so I can be the best version of myself out there every day.

“I’ll leave (the decisions) up to them, but I’m going to keep making it hard for them to keep me down here.”

The Giants will be happy to find reasons next spring to make the path a bit easier for Eldridge. On and off the field, he is potentially the cure to a lot of their problems, and if this front office survives the offseason, Eldridge’s huge 2024 debut might be as strong a reason as any.

The lineup desperately needs his power, which has shown throughout a hectic summer. In 519 plate appearances across four levels this season, Eldridge batted .289/.372/.514 with 23 home runs, 92 RBI and a .885 OPS in 116 games.

Power was his best tool when the Giants took him No. 16 overall in the 2023 MLB Draft, and he has spent the last year making minor league ballparks look small. Triples Alley is cruel to left-handed hitters but the Giants have no concerns about Oracle Park’s dimensions giving Eldridge trouble.

“He goes to center and the left-center field alley so well,” president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said recently. “It’s really interesting because he has so much power that a lot of times he’s sort of mis-hitting balls out when he goes to the opposite field. He has hit some homers to straightaway left field this year that were maybe not even 100 mph (exit velocities) but just had good trajectories, but that’s a testament in itself to his ability to get the ball in the air and to get good loft on it. I think between the alleys there’s real power, that’s where a lot of his homers go.”

While chatting with reporters about Eldridge’s latest promotion, Zaidi made it clear that the final one won’t be because of a need on the big league roster. With a prospect as good as Eldridge, the front office will want to make sure the timing is right, but there’s also an understanding of what his power could mean to a lineup that has lagged since a shocking 2021 season.

“He has a chance to bring an element that we haven’t had on this team the last couple of years,” Zaidi said.

Eldridge also has a chance to jolt the business side of the organization. The Giants have a homegrown ace in Logan Webb, but starting pitchers take the field just once during most homestands. Heliot Ramos and Tyler Fitzgerald were breakout stars this season and Matt Chapman is someone to build an infield around, but Eldridge’s ceiling is unmatched within the organization.

Zaidi tried to sign Bryce Harper, Eldridge’s idol, in his first winter in charge. Two years ago the Giants finished second for Aaron Judge, who is a 6-foot-7 power hitter, like Eldridge. It’s not fair to put those kinds of expectations on a teenager, but Eldridge is the type of prospect that can allow an organization and its fans to dream, and he has done the same himself. Asked about one day getting back on the mound, the former two-way prospect smiled and said he has different goals now.

“[I’m] just thinking about getting up to the show and hitting homers into the Cove as quick as I can,” he said.  “Who knows what’s going to happen down the line, down towards the end of my career, but as of right now the hitting is working out fine and solely focusing on hitting is going to be good for me in the long run.”

Eldridge loved pitching, but the Giants felt he would move much faster this year if they took that half of the game off his plate. They further simplified things by moving him to first base full-time. That’s the part of his game that is clearly behind the others right now, but the week in Triple-A allowed Eldridge to work closely with a new set of eyes — including longtime big league infield coach Ron Wotus — and the focus in the Arizona Fall League will be on getting better on that side of the ball. To that end, Eldridge will play for a team run by Double-A manager Dennis Pelfrey.

When Eldridge and Pelfrey were in minor league camp in Arizona this spring, the first baseman planned to hit enough that he would play for the manager late in the year. When he finally got there, one Giants official after the next felt that he was ready for the challenge of Triple-A pitching.

Eldridge said even the short stint allowed him to continue his growth. The arms in Triple-A were the best he has ever seen.

“It’s been fun. The speed keeps picking up the higher I go,” Eldridge said. “More of those hard-hit balls aren’t dropping in the outfield or getting through the infield.”

The 19-year-old was surprised to finish up in Triple-A, but only to an extent. He is on the fastest of tracks but that’s exactly the way he wants it. The expectations couldn’t be higher, but he’s not shying away from them.

“Every day is another chance to keep opening eyes,” he said. “I’m going to keep continuing to do that every day I’m out here. I wouldn’t say I’m surprised. I’ve worked hard for this, this is what I’ve wanted since day one, was to be the guy in San Francisco and get there as quick as possible. We’re making it happen so far.”

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