First baseman Bryce Eldridge was honored Monday for his success in the Giants’ minor-league system.
Baseball America chose the promising 19-year-old as San Francisco’s MiLB Player of the Year for 2024.
“It has nothing to do with anybody else -- Bryce has been that good,” Giants farm director Kyle Haines told Baseball America’s Steve Kroner.
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San Francisco selected Eldridge with the No. 16 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. He began the 2024 season with Low-A San Jose and was promoted to High-A Eugene on June 28 and Double-A Richmond on Sept. 3.
Most impressively, Eldridge reached Triple-A Sacramento on Sept. 14 -- a rare feat for a player who won’t turn 20 for another month.
In 446 at-bats this year, Eldridge slashed .289/.372/.885 with 129 hits, 91 RBI, 23 home runs and six stolen bases.
The 6-foot-7, 223-pound Eldridge is shaping up to be the power hitter the Giants have yearned for in recent years. San Francisco surely hopes so, considering the organization has finished second in races for big-time hitters Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper and Carlos Correa during recent MLB free-agency periods.
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Eldridge was known to be a pitcher and outfielder -- at least in high school -- when the Giants drafted him a summer ago. But the Virginia native switched to first base this spring and intends to grow more comfortable at the position during the offseason.
There is a real possibility that Eldridge starts the 2025 MLB season on the Giants’ Opening Day roster. The left-handed batter should, at least, have the upcoming spring training to show he can hang at the big-league level.
All Eldridge has done is elevate since being drafted. And with San Francisco missing the MLB playoffs for the seventh time in eight seasons, all options should be on the table.