SAN FRANCISCO — Delayed by a wrist injury to start the season, Bryce Eldridge didn’t waste any time making up for lost time.
The Giants’ 20-year-old top prospect made his season debut for Double-A Richmond on Tuesday and homered in his first at-bat. Batting cleanup, the 6-foot-7 first baseman led off the second inning by using his left-handed swing to deposit a low-and-away breaking ball over the right-center field wall.
“All right, well, get him here now,” manager Bob Melvin joked before the big-league club hosted the Milwaukee Brewers.
Eldridge’s home run happened moments before the manager took his seat in the dugout for his pregame media session, and Melvin watched it for the first time on a reporter’s phone. He looked up before the highlight was over. “I don’t need to see where it landed,” he said.
The ball easily cleared the wall and landed in the Flying Squirrels’ bullpen, but Melvin is already acquainted with the prodigious power of the club’s 2022 first-round draft pick. Invited to major-league spring training for the first time this year, Eldridge made a similar first impression, homering in his second at-bat.
Eldridge, however, was slowed after that by inflammation in his wrist, which resulted in him remaining in Arizona for extending spring training.
It wasn’t a given that Eldridge would begin the season at Double-A after he advanced through four levels in 2024 and ended the year at Triple-A Sacramento. When the regular season was over, he was assigned to the Arizona Fall League but was shut down after 10 games.
Eldridge hit .291/.374/.516 with 23 home runs in 446 at-bats across all levels in 2024 but only reached Richmond during the final month of the season, playing all but 15 of his 116 games for Single-A San Jose and High-A Eugene.
As far as when he could arrive in San Francisco, Melvin said, “We’ll take a hard look at him and hope he gets off to a good start, does his thing and see where it goes from there.” Moments later, the manager watched the clip of Eldridge going deep. Not a bad start.
“Let’s see how his second at-bat goes,” Melvin cracked.
Considered the No. 11 prospect in the sport by Baseball America and No. 22 by MLB.com, Eldridge’s arrival has been highly anticipated ever since the ball jumped off his bat during his rookie league debut months after the Giants drafted him 16th overall as a prep two-way player.
The Giants have gotten some of the least production in the majors out of first base so far this season, but Melvin expressed confidence that LaMonte Wade Jr. would turn it around. Their first basemen have been the sixth-least valuable of any team, led by Wade, who entered Tuesday batting .103 with a .473 OPS.
The designated hitter spot is more settled, with Wilmer Flores among the league leaders in home runs (7) and RBIs (24).
“I do believe LaMonte’s going to pick it up, and we’ve gotten good production out of Flo,” Melvin said. “(Eldridge) is going to have to perform to get here, and that’s something Buster (Posey, the president of baseball operations) has stated.”
The assignment for Eldridge is threefold: Get more seasoning in the upper levels of the minor leagues, first and foremost. Improve his defense at first base, where he only began to play in the pros and is still considered a below average fielder. And cut down on his strikeouts after whiffing at a 25% rate in 2024.
“I think he’s going to surprise some people with his hit ability; he’s got a really short swing,” Randy Winn, the Giants’ director of player development, said last month of the expectations for the club’s top prospect this year. “I just want him to continue to improve in all facets of the game. The mental side of it, as well.
“How do you deal with failure? How do you hit in certain situations? How do you hit if somebody is pitching around you? How do you hit if you’re not feeling great? Those are all the things that he’s got to learn, but you can only learn that with more reps.”
Originally Published:
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