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SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 17: Bryce Eldridge #88 of the San Francisco Giants takes batting practice at Scottsdale Stadium on February 17, 2025 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Andy Kuno/San Francisco Giants/Getty Images)

Top Giants Prospects Who Could Contribute in 2026

Originally posted on Just Baseball | By Michael Monreal | Last updated Jan 27, 2026 10:20 AM ET

The San Francisco Giants have had one of the quietest offseasons across baseball up to this point. Whether it’s having no interest in adding to the team’s payroll or simply not loving this year’s free-agent class, they haven’t made any flashy moves.

One thing they have been clear about is their belief in some of the young core and prospects to come up and deliver in 2026. While the Giants’ system has seen a huge jump in talent within the last year, a lot of that has come in the lower minors.

Despite their rosters at the upper levels lacking a surplus of highly touted prospects outside of Bryce Eldridge, there are still a number of guys looking to breakthrough in the nearing season. Let’s take a look at which names could be real contributors for the Giants at some point in the 2026 regular season.

Bryce Eldridge – 1B/DH (Just Baseball No. 23)

This one’s quite obvious and it’s for good reason. Eldridge is arguably the best prospect the organization has seen since the team’s POBO, Buster Posey. This led to him making his MLB debut at the ripe age of just 20-years-old at the end of last year.

While his two weeks with the big-league club weren’t anything special, it was the last two years in the minors that put Eldridge’s name on the map. In 2024, Eldridge climbed from Low-A to Triple-A within a single season. Across the four levels, he slashed .291/.374/.516 with 23 home runs and an OPS right under .900.

In 2025, all he did was continue to hit. For an 18-game stretch in the middle of the summer, he was arguably the best hitter in the minor leagues. From July 14 to August 5, he slashed .303/.377/.682 and hit eight home runs with a 1.058 OPS.

Throughout his entire time in Triple-A during 2025, Eldridge was hitting the ball absurdly hard. He had a hard-hit rate of 62.7% with an exit velocity of 95.7 mph. In his cup of coffee in the big leagues, those numbers either stayed the same or improved. While it may have been a small sample, they compared to the two best hitters in the sport.

	EV	Hard Hit %	Barrel %
Bryce Eldridge	95.6 mph	68.8%	25%
Aaron Judge	95.4 mph	58.2%	24.7%
Shohei Ohtani	94.9 mph	58.7%	23.5%

While his long-term defensive home is a slight question mark, Eldridge will likely split time between first base and DH with Rafael Devers in 2025.

Carson Whisenhunt – LHP

At one point, Whisenhunt was seen as a top 100 prospect by a handful of outlets. This was due to a single pitch rather than consistent dominance in the minor leagues.

Now, dealing with slight prospect fatigue, the Giants will likely get a longer look at Whisenhunt at some point in the 2026 season. The changeup is his true calling card, as it’s been noted as one of the better secondaries in the minor leagues.

However, outside of it there isn’t a ton to be excited about with the 25-year-old southpaw. While he definitely hit some bumps during his stint at the end of 2025, he still showed what made him a fringe top 100 player.

In his second career outing, he went 5.1 innings of one-run ball against the Mets, securing his first major-league win. It was an exciting start to his career and gave the Giants a glimpse of what they might be able to expect from him in the future.

As soon as San Francisco needs some reinforcements in the rotation, Whisenhunt will likely be one of the first names called.

Jesús Rodríguez – C

Rodríguez was brought over at the trade deadline as part of the return for longtime Giant Camilo Doval. While the return initially looked a bit light in terms of top-end talent, he appears to be a perfect fit for this roster and as part of the future catching situation in San Francisco.

The Giants full-time backstop, Patrick Bailey, is arguably the best defender in the sport. On the offensive side, he hasn’t been able to produce at a consistent rate. However, as a switch-hitter, he has always been much more comfortable from the left side of the plate.

This is where Rodríguez comes in. As a right-handed hitter, all he’s done throughout the minor leagues is hit. In six seasons, he has a .309 average with a 125 wRC+.

He won’t hit for a ton of power or be the greatest defender, but on the offensive side of things, he looks to be the perfect platoon partner and backup to Bailey. We may not see him on Opening Day, but he has the chance to help the Giants at some point in 2026.

Blade Tidwell – RHP

Similar to Rodríguez, Tidwell was acquired at last year’s deadline. The only difference is that he was one of the pieces coming to San Francisco in exchange for submariner Tyler Rogers.

He did get a taste of the big leagues in 15 innings as a spot starter for the Mets in 2025. The 9.00 ERA during that time isn’t too encouraging, but the 5.68 xERA suggest that he got slightly unlucky.

Either way, the Giants liked the stuff and the arsenal of Tidwell and decided to take advantage of him being pushed out of the picture in New York due to the rise of a few pitching prospects.

Every pitch in the arsenal is above average by Stuff+ ratings with the slider really standing out with a score of 116. The command has been an issue at times, but during his short stint at Triple-A Sacramento, it didn’t affect him.

In 18 innings in the Giants organization, his 7.4% walk rate was the lowest of any stop of his minor league career. This led to an impressive 1.50 ERA and 12 strikeouts per nine during the small sample.

If it weren’t for an IL stint to end the year, we very likely would’ve seen him take the mound at Oracle Park in September. Now, he looks to be a significant help to a rotation that desperately needed depth at several points in 2025.