The Giants selected the rookie first baseman Bryce Eldridgethe team informed reporters (including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle). San Francisco also selected a second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald and foreign player Grant McCray.
Eldridge will open the season in the minors after finishing the ’25 season on the MLB roster. The 21-year-old made his league debut in September. He played in 10 games and had 37 plate appearances, hitting .107 with no home runs. Eldridge walked seven but struck out 13 times.
A 6’7″ power bat, Eldridge slugged 25 homers in the minors last year. He compiled a .260/.333/.510 batting line in 433 outings. Eldridge spent most of the year as one of the minor leaguers in Triple-A. It has a great physical appearance, but is clearly far from a finished product. Eldridge struck out over 29% of his minor league plate appearances.
Whiffs remain a problem this spring. Eldridge played in 19 of the 50 exhibition games. He’s the second (behind) first round pick of the Giants James Tibbs III) in hitting among Spring Training hitters. It’s understandable that the team feels it could benefit from more reps against Triple-A pitching.
While Eldridge is certainly disappointed that he didn’t make his Opening Day debut, it’s not a hindrance to his career. Most hitters his age don’t think about breaking camp. He will likely be back at some point this season.
Downgrades will likely have service time implications. He has 14 days of major league time, which means he will need to spend 158 days on the MLB roster to reach a year of service at the end of the season. That won’t happen unless he is called up before the end of April. It’s not a matter of manipulating service time, to be clear. If the Giants were so concerned about that, they wouldn’t have drafted him last season (before that they had to pick him off the 40-man roster).
The Giants likely passed on the prospect of a Prospect Promotion Incentive draft pick, even if it’s still in play if they miss him in the first few weeks. The PPI selection depends on awards voting, however, and Eldridge’s strikeout rates are about enough that he has an upward path to win Rookie of the Year. The main focus is what the team thinks is best for his development.
Rafael Devers he will be the first baseman. The Giants don’t have a designated hitter with Eldridge in the minors. Now there are many ways to carry both Luis Matos again Jerar Encarnación in the active list. Both players are out of options and would need to be traded or exposed to waivers.
Casey Schmitt and holding a backup (presumably Rule 5 draft Daniel Susac) will have bench areas. That would leave one spot for a midfielder Is Brennan, Drew Gilbert, Christian Koss or an unregistered invitee. It’s a corner bat Victor Bericoto and a fast outfielder Jared Oliva are among the minor league invitees who have impressed this spring.
