The future could be very bright for the Giants at one position.
San Francisco's farm system, which is not rated highly by most prospect evaluators, does have one potential crown jewel in first baseman Bryce Eldridge.
The Athletic's Keith Law released his annual top-100 prospects list ahead of the 2025 MLB season and provided his scouting report on Eldridge, who he ranked as the 29th-best prospect in baseball.
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"He's [6-foot-7] and has a short swing for someone that size, one that’s far more geared towards contact than the kind of big-fly, loft-oriented swing you might expect from such a tall hitter, and he kept his strikeout rate to just 25 percent until he got to Triple-A, which is always the biggest concern with any hitter his height (or taller)," Law wrote. "He looks like he’ll be a huge power hitter, but while he makes hard contact, I’m expecting higher averages and doubles totals but a more modest home run output in the 20-25 homer range.
"He has played some right field but it’s apparently an Eldridge horror show out there, so first base it will be. He still has work to do there, but there’s really nothing stopping him from becoming at least a 55 defender at the position, and he does give fielders a big target for their throws. The Giants pushed him very hard last year, so 2025 should be a consolidation year for him, where perhaps he starts in Double-A and gets a long run there before moving up to the hitter-friendly PCL. He’s their next franchise player, but needs time to be ready to deal with major-league pitching, especially as he had more trouble with offspeed stuff as he moved up the ladder last year."
As Law mentioned, Eldridge ascended through four levels of the Giants' farm system last season, batting .292/.374/.516 with 23 home runs and 92 RBI in 519 plate appearances across Low-A, High-A, Double-A and Triple-A in 2024.
Law has Eldridge ranked much lower on his list than Baseball America, who has the Giants slugger ranked 12th, while MLB.com has him ranked 24th.
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The Giants covet Eldridge and reportedly refused to include him in trades for star players Kyle Tucker and Garrett Crochet earlier this offseason.
And given his quick ascension through the farm system, it won't be long before the 20-year-old slugger is up at the major-league level.