One step closer…
The San Francisco Giants have had a problem at first base all year long. And that problem is seemingly a step closer to being solved. On Tuesday afternoon, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the Giants are promoting top prospect Bryce Eldridge to AAA Sacramento. And as they say, once you’re in AAA, you’re only ever a phone call away from the big leagues.
San Francisco’s new regime spent the offseason and spring training preaching patience with prospects, and suggesting that prospects would spend a long time at each level. But Eldridge is an exceptional enough talent that there’s no need for the rules to fully apply to him. Despite a wrist injury debuting the start of his season — he didn’t make his season debut until the 16th game of the season for AA Richmond — Eldridge is one of the first prospects the Giants have promoted this year.
And for good reason. He made AA pitchers look overmatched in his 34 games at the level, hitting .280/.350/.512 in a low-offense environment, and bopping seven home runs. Just as importantly, his defense has been improving, and he’s looking closer to being an MLB-caliber player with the glove.
Now he’ll get a chance to prove that his bat is ready. Eldridge had a cup of coffee in Sacramento last year, but hit just 8-31 with no extra-base hits and 11 strikeouts. And in Spring Training this year he hit just 2-12 with one home run and eight strikeouts. But his performance in Richmond has shown that he’s made improvements, and now the star prospect will get to show if he’s ready to contribute at the highest level.
The Giants will likely take a hard look at Eldridge if he hits well, even if the glove is still a ways off. So far this year, Giants first basemen rank 30th in the Majors in batting average (.174), 22nd in on-base percentage (.289), 30th in slugging percentage (.266), 27th in OPS (.555), 26th in wRC+ (63), and 26th in fWAR (-1.2). They need all the help they can get.
Eldridge’s arrival in Sacramento also presents some positional questions for the River Cats, even with Jerar Encarnación returning to San Francisco and Jake Lamb getting released. Eldridge will presumably get the bulk of the playing time at first base, pushing Marco Luciano (who had just started to play the position) mostly back to the outfield, along with first baseman/corner outfielder Victor Bericoto, who is wrapping up a rehab assignment in Papago and should be returning to Sacramento soon.
That means that Sacramento will have to find time in the outfield (and DH) for Luciano, Bericoto, Grant McCray, Luis Matos, Wade Meckler, Daniel Johnson, and Hunter Bishop. That’s not particularly feasible, and it could spell the end of the road for Johnson and/or Bishop.