San Francisco Giants’ Bryce Eldridge poses for a photograph with Giants President Farhan Zaidi before their game against the Oakland Athletics at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Bryce Eldridge’s insane first full season of pro ball is taking another step in the right direction.
Eldridge, the 19-year-old first baseman, is getting promoted to Double-A, this news organization confirmed. Roger Munter of ThereRGiants.com was the first to report the news.
The Giants selected Eldridge in the first round of the 2023 amateur draft and he has since become San Francisco’s No. 1 overall prospect, per MLB Pipeline.
Eldridge began the year at Low-A San Jose before graduating to the High-A Eugene Emeralds and now jumping to Double-A Richmond for the last couple weeks of their season. Starting next season with the Richmond Flying Squirrels would put Eldridge on track to make his big-league debut in 2025 — as long as he continues to produce from the plate like he has.
In 99 games this year across the two levels, Eldridge has hit 22 home runs while posting a batting average of .296 and an OPS of .923. The 6-foot-7 slugger performed even better with the Emeralds than he did in Low-A.
Eldridge played 48 games for Eugene, slashing .335/.442/.619 with 11 doubles, 12 home runs and 41 RBI. He went deep five times in his last six games and finished with a 1.060 OPS. Originally drafted as a possible two-way player, Eldridge has focused solely on playing first base and designated hitter this season.
According to Baseball America, Eldridge’s wRC+ ranks third among 19-year-olds at that particular level since 2006. Eldridge was named the Northwest League Player of the Week in what is poised to be his last week in High-A ever.
The Flying Squirrels have 12 games remaining on their schedule and aren’t expected to make the postseason. Even if Eldridge won’t be able to prove much either way in such limited time, promoting him to Double-A is a strong reward for his success. At the Futures Game this summer, Eldridge said his goal was to reach Double-A by the end of the year.
Eldridge is just 19, but teenagers and young early-twenties prospects have been making an impact in MLB with more regularity. Jackson Holiday and Jackson Chouriho are 20, while Jackson Merrill is 21 and Paul Skenes is 22.
The Giants have been searching for a star for years. They might just have one in their farm system.
Originally published at Danny Emerman