Yardbarker
x
Bryce Eldridge Has Little Left to Prove in the Minors
Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants have experienced one of the worst collapses we’ve seen in recent memory. On June 13th, just days before acquiring slugger Rafael Devers, this team was tied for first place in the NL West with the Dodgers and held a 65.9% chance to make the playoffs (FanGraphs).

Fast-forward to now and they sit 7.5 games back of the third Wild Card spot with a mere 0.4% shot at playing meaningful October baseball. While they had a four game set against the division-rival Padres to try and make up some ground, they lost three of four. Now heading to Milwaukee to face the hottest team in baseball in the Brewers, there’s no end in sight to this slide.

While the majority of fans have given up on this season, there is one thing the Giants can do to bring some excitement to the fanbase. Bryce Eldridge is the highest ranked first-base prospect in all of baseball and is raking for the Triple-A affiliate Sacramento River Cats.

Should San Francisco make Eldridge a September call-up or let him finish the year developing in Sacramento?

Eldridge’s Performance

Eldridge started the year in Double-A Richmond and made it look easy. He hit seven home runs in just 34 games with a 148 wRC+. It didn’t take long for the 20-year old to earn a promotion to Triple-A.

Initially, Eldridge struggled in Sacramento, hitting just .160 in his first 13 games. The three games that followed looked a lot better, as he went 6-for-11 with three doubles. However, right when he started figuring it out at a new level, he suffered a hamstring strain and missed around a month of games.

Many thought that due to missing close to a month, this injury shut down any idea of Eldridge debuting in 2025. However, once he returned, he flipped a switch and started hitting like the #16 ranked prospect in baseball he is.

In 32 games since July 14th, he’s slashed .259/.338/.569 with 11 home runs for a wRC+ of 122. This is good enough for an isolated power of .310, which would place him fifth among qualified Major League hitters in the stat. This puts Eldridge comfortably ahead of power-hitting names like Junior Caminero, Ketel Marte, and Pete Alonso.

Although he still struggles in terms of whiffing at offspeed offerings, his absurd 58.4% hard hit rate when he does hit the ball makes him an elite power prospect.

Just Baseball’s own Aram Leighton had this to say about Eldridge on The Call Up Podcast a few weeks ago:

“A big reason I pushed him in the update… I couldn’t believe how frequently he was hitting the ball hard. His last 40 games, 60% hard hit rate…his last 20 games, he has a 60% hard hit rate. That’s outrageous… If that’s your quality of contact and you’re striking out less than 25% of the time, you’re going to be in for some good results, there’s no doubt about that.”

It’s clear that Eldridge has tapped into the ability to hit the ball as hard as anybody in the minor leagues. The question is whether it’s time for San Francisco to put that ability to the test in the big leagues or not.

What’s The Hold Up?

While many may be surprised to see that Eldridge wasn’t called up as soon as August 16th hit, it could be for good reason. The previous regime in San Francisco had a pattern of rushing player to the big leagues and it not ending well for the development of the prospect.

The prime example of this happening is Marco Luciano. Luciano was the organization’s top hitting prospect for several years, and in 2023, San Francisco rushed him to the big leagues in late August. Since then, Luciano has only played 41 games in the big leagues with a 60 wRC+ and zero home runs.

New president of baseball operations Buster Posey seems to have recognized this trend as he has been outspoken about the organization taking their time with Eldridge. He highlights the need for reps at first base, defensively, for Eldridge as a big factor in not rushing his promotion.

Posey had this to say on an episode of the Giants Talk podcast:

“We’ll have these discussions, but again, I think it’s important for Bryce to keep growing, keep getting the reps. He’s still just 20 years old, so we’ve got time.”

Posey himself had a cup of coffee in the big leagues in 2009 before his first full season in 2010 in which he won the National League Rookie of the Year. Could he try to use the same formula for Eldridge, the best prospect the organization has seen since Posey himself? At the end of the day, it worked out pretty well for the future Hall of Fame catcher.

This article first appeared on Just Baseball and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads:

Customize Your Newsletter

Yardbarker +

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!