There R Giants' 2024 Top 50: #3 Bryce Eldridge
He's now a One-Way Player: UP!
Photo Courtesy: Steve Angeline | The Eldridge Family
So far in the Top 50:
#50-46 (Lisbel Diaz, Hayden Wynja, Alix Hernandez, Carson Ragsdale, Ben Madison)
#45-41 (Jose Cruz, Tyler Myrick, Eric Silva, Nick Zwack, Josh Bostick)
#40-36 (William Kempner, R.J. Dabovich, Scott Bandura, Cole Foster, Nick Avila)
#35-31 (Jairo Pomares, Manuel Mercedes, Ryan Murphy, Erik Miller, Spencer Miles)
#30-26 (Kai-Wei Teng, Cole Waites, Randy Rodriguez, Maui Ahuna, Liam Simon)
#25-21 (Gerelmi Maldonado, Carson Seymour, Adrian Sugastey, Onil Perez, Diego Velasquez)
#20-16 (Heliot Ramos, Trevor McDonald, Landen Roupp, Victor Bericoto, Wade Meckler)
#15-12 (Tyler Fitzgerald, Joe Whitman, Vaun Brown, Reggie Crawford)
One constituency I know I’m going to hear from every year when I’m doing the Depth Chart series is my “fans of classic 1b” group. Fans who — like me — remember the days of Willie McCovey as the halcyon days of our youth and long for another to strike such fearsome awe into the hearts of fans and pitchers alike. Generally, that desire is attached to a sad realization that the Giants — like nearly all teams these days — don’t really specialize in 1b prospects much anymore. The game has moved away from valuing 1b-only type players, and most teams will think more in terms of a “corner bats” bucket — players who bounce around from 3b to 1b and maybe left and right field or sometimes catcher in the bargain. Each year that I’ve done the Depth Charts, the 1b position has lacked sizzle and it’s lacked depth.
But fans of classic 1b, have I got news for you!
When last we left the story of the Giants’ top pick from last year, he was working on learning his reads and routes in the outfield and still hoping to get some time in on the mound. That all changed last week when GM Pete Putila announced that, for the time being, Bryce Eldridge is to be both a one-way player AND a 1b only. Quite a lot can change in the opening days of camp!
This is the story of how a tremendous debut and extremely buzzy optimism is driving the organization to narrow their prodigy’s path while simultaneously raising his expectations. This is the story of a draft pick that, almost instantly, has started to look like one of the best selections of the Zaidi Era — and hopes are high that it might very well just be such stuff as dreams are made on.
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