SAN FRANCISCO — In the midst of a frigid offensive stretch, the Giants promoted top prospect Bryce Eldridge from Double-A Richmond to Triple-A Sacramento. The next step, naturally, is the majors — a step Eldridge could conceivably take this year.
“I think all of these decisions and conversations are fluid,” said president of baseball operations Buster Posey. “Things can change. I still think that for Bryce, it’s best to get reps. But again, things change, so we will continue to have conversations and watch his progress.”
During his conversation with beat reporters on Tuesday, Posey appeared more open to the idea of Eldridge making his major-league debut compared to last December.
At MLB’s Winter Meetings, Posey tempered expectations regarding Eldridge playing with the Giants in 2025, citing how the 20-year-old would only be a sophomore had he attended college. With Eldridge excelling and San Francisco struggling at the plate, a debut sometime this season may not be out of the cards.
“We’re monitoring his progress and most definitely want to put him in a position to succeed,” Posey said, “but yeah, ultimately the goal is to win games at the big-league level.”
Eldridge has shown he has the potential to aid the Giants’ offense down the line. The 6-foot-7 first baseman owns a career .887 OPS in the minors, and this season, Eldridge had a .280/.350/.512 slash line with seven home runs and 20 RBIs.
Eldridge’s defense at first base, a position he picked up last year, remains a work in progress. But if Eldridge continues to produce at Sacramento, it wouldn’t be surprising for the Giants to use him at designated hitter as he continues to work on his defense.
“What’s the most promising aspect of not only seeing it with your eyes that he’s getting better, is his willingness to work and his willingness to take direction from the staff,” Posey said. “Take direction from Joe Panik when he comes in or it’s Will Clark. He’s eager to learn. He’s eager to get better. He wants to be great at it. He still has a lot of work to do, and I think he knows that as well, but it’s nice that he’s moving in the right direction.”
Added manager Bob Melvin: “He’s a hard worker. There’s a tremendous amount of skill offensively. He works really hard on his defense and that’s something that he continues to do, but I think it was the work ethic (that stood out) and he was all for trying to get better.”
Eldridge can help the Giants’ offense down the line, but the team is still searching for solutions in the here and now.
Over their last 15 games, the Giants have only generated 30 runs. They haven’t scored more than four runs in a single game since Wilmer Flores hit three homers against the Athletics on May 16, going 13-for-99 (.131) with runners in scoring position during this stretch. In May, San Francisco finished with a losing record (13-14) despite its pitching staff posting a 2.51 ERA and Robbie Ray winning National League Pitcher of the Month.
The Giants received a much-needed reinforcement on Monday in Jerar Encarnacion, who was activated off the 60-day injured list. With Encarnacion back, the Giants could roll out lineups featuring Encarnacion in right field and Casey Schmitt at first base as they did on Tuesday night, depending on the matchup. But Encarnacion alone will not cure the team’s offensive ills.
“From my vantage point now, it’s looking at ‘Are there different options out there? What are the different options internally?’ We’re at a strange point in the season as far as other teams’ willingness to make trades at this point with us being still a couple of months away (from the trade deadline),” Posey said. “From our perspective as a front office, we’re not satisfied with the production. So, we’re trying to exhaust all options.”
Most of The Giants’ lineup is in a funk, and LaMonte Wade Jr. in particular hasn’t found his footing the entire season, his .546 OPS being the eighth-lowest mark in all of baseball (min. 150 plate appearances). Wade is currently day-to-day after being hit in the right hand with a 95 mph four-seam fastball Monday night by the Padres’ Stephen Kolek.
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“We’ve been as consistent with him as we have been because of the track record,” Posey said. “I’ve watched this guy play for quite a while now and I know that it’s in there. We just have to find a way to get more runs across the board as well as we’ve pitched. We need a little bit more.”
Patrick Bailey, too, is searching for answers with the bat. Bailey remains one of the most valuable defensive players in baseball, but the catcher enters Tuesday with a .517 OPS over 52 games.
“He’d be the first to tell you that he wants more production than there has been to this point,” Posey said. “He is extremely valuable behind the plate. He’s done a nice job managing the staff. I feel like that’s been an improvement this year. The framing is there, the throwing is there, the ability to keep the ball off the backstop. But no question, he’s working hard. I don’t want to put words in his mouth, but I assume he’s not satisfied with where he is right now.”
