{"id":697148,"date":"2026-05-12T17:30:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T17:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/697148\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T17:30:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T17:30:17","slug":"whats-the-sf-giants-plan-for-top-prospect-bryce-eldridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/697148\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s the SF Giants’ plan for top prospect Bryce Eldridge?"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES \u2014 On an otherwise demoralizing Saturday night that ended in a 10-run loss to the Pirates, Bryce Eldridge<\/a> unfurled a swing that reinforced why the Giants believe he\u2019ll be an impact bat for years to come.<\/p>\n

Eldridge turned on an inside fastball and launched a towering solo shot that bounced into McCovey Cove, the first of many in his career. It wasn\u2019t a true Splash Hit since the ball didn\u2019t land in the water on the fly, but it was an exhibition of his game-changing power. The Giants called up Eldridge<\/a> a week ago to jumpstart the offense with swings like this in mind.<\/p>\n

The reward for Eldridge\u2019s first career home run has been riding the pine for a team that\u2019s still last in the majors in runs per game and walks.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t enter Sunday\u2019s game against the Pirates until the 10th inning, as a pinch-hitter. Eldridge\u2019s name wasn\u2019t in the lineup for the opener of the Giants\u2019 series against the Dodgers on Monday, either; he was set to pinch-hit in the ninth, but he was left stranded in the on-deck circle.<\/p>\n

So, what exactly is the plan for Eldridge? As things stand, Eldridge isn\u2019t an everyday starter. And while he\u2019ll start on Tuesday, manager Tony Vitello said following Monday\u2019s 9-3 win<\/a> in Los Angeles, but it\u2019s fair to wonder when his next start will be after facing 2025 World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s definitely not going to get the amount of at-bats that he would get if he were on the minor league team and he\u2019s the key ingredient in the middle of the order \u2014 not that he can\u2019t be that for us.\u201d Vitello said. \u201cAnd that may occur. But just kind of looking at it from a status quo perspective, I think it\u2019s more important just to keep them in a rhythm. Then hopefully, after a month or two, we can assess how much more do you need to push repetitions or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eldridge said, \u201cI\u2019m just going to keep trusting the team and what they\u2019ve got planned for me. \u201cI\u2019m still very confident I\u2019m going to play this game for a long time. Goals will change as the years go on, but right now, I\u2019m just going to do what I\u2019m told and continue to work hard and get ready for every at-bat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like any rookie, the 21-year-old Eldridge will need consistent reps against major-league pitching to develop as a hitter. Monday\u2019s game against the Dodgers\u2019 Roki Sasaki, a right-hander with a poor walk rate, appeared to be a perfect game to get Eldridge back into the lineup. Instead, he started on the bench for the third time in the last four games.<\/p>\n

Getting Eldridge into the starting lineup on this roster was always going to be a puzzle since he\u2019s limited to first base and designated hitter.<\/p>\n

The Giants\u2019 best hitter this season has been Casey Schmitt, who has a team-leading .864 OPS. Despite his defensive versatility, Schmitt has often started at DH. Rafael Devers, of course, is this offense\u2019s cornerstone and continues to heat up, reaching base four times on Monday and hitting his fifth home run.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs much of a threat as Bryce is, our biggest threat in the lineup is Rafi,\u201d Vitello said. \u201cOur best producer so far has been Casey, so it does kind of make it that triangle of bodies there. It does make it a little bit of a puzzle to solve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eldridge said,\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s a good problem to have. We\u2019re here to win, and I\u2019m here to win and help the team win. So, I view it as a good thing that we got a lot of good options at the same position. Like I said, I\u2019m ready to help out however they want me to.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other three infield spots are occupied by Luis Arraez at second, Matt Chapman at third and Willy Adames at short.<\/p>\n

Arraez leads the Giants with a .311 batting average, while Adames is starting to find life offensively. Chapman remains in a funk, which could lead to the occasional day where Chapman sits, Schmitt starts at third and Eldridge slots in at DH. Still, Chapman is a foundational player with a foundational salary and won\u2019t start stacking up missed games.<\/p>\n

The most straightforward way that the Giants could address their current roster logjam would be for president of baseball operations Buster Posey to swing his own version of the Bengie Molina trade, which opened playing time for Posey as a rookie catcher in 2010. In this case, that would mean trading Arraez and allowing Schmitt to move to second base, thus opening up designated hitter for Eldridge.<\/p>\n

But barring a trade or an injury, Eldridge will have to temporarily adjust to not being an everyday player.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just trying to figure out a routine for getting ready for a pinch-hit, how much to hit, trying to manage that workload,\u201d Eldridge said. \u201cIt\u2019s new, but I\u2019m ready for any challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vitello said he wasn\u2019t concerned about Eldridge\u2019s ability to maintain his timing as long as he gets consistent plate appearances, regardless of whether it\u2019s as a starter or pinch-hitter. He pointed to Sunday\u2019s game as an example.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we were to look at it from a development scope, I think, like last game, you pop in two at-bats with a lot on the line, those might be worth four regular at-bats in a game, if you can make that argument,\u201d Vitello said.\n<\/p>\n

Vitello added that Eldridge is here \u201cfor the long haul,\u201d as opposed to a temporary stint in the majors, emphasizing that Eldridge is here \u201cto boost our offense.\u201d Given Eldridge\u2019s strikeout rates in Triple-A, a bench role could be San Francisco\u2019s way of easing him into things instead of throwing him into the fire.<\/p>\n

If there is any semblance of a bright spot to the roster\u2019s current construction, it\u2019s that Vitello has strong options available off the bench. The impending return of rookie catcher Daniel Susac, who is currently rehabbing from right elbow ulnar neuritis, should give Vitello more options.<\/p>\n

Eldridge\u2019s evolution from top prospect to foundational player will require him to be a regular starter at some point. That time, however, isn\u2019t now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES \u2014 On an otherwise demoralizing Saturday night that ended in a 10-run loss to the Pirates,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":697149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2408],"tags":[5,2178,162,4,378,66,4343,4340,4344,4341,4342,185],"class_list":{"0":"post-697148","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-giants","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-giants","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-san-francisco","13":"tag-san-francisco-giants","14":"tag-sanfrancisco","15":"tag-sanfranciscogiants","16":"tag-sf","17":"tag-sf-giants","18":"tag-sfgiants","19":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116562796495186186","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=697148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/697149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=697148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=697148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=697148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}