Giants' top prospect Eldridge clubs HR in first at-bat back from injury

SAN FRANCISCO -- Bryce Eldridge is back.

The Giants’ No. 1 prospect made his season debut with Double-A Richmond on Tuesday after completing his rehab from a left wrist injury and immediately picked up where he left off from his breakout 2024 campaign.

• Box: Brewers 11, Giants 3

The 20-year-old first baseman homered in his first at-bat of the year, crushing a hanging breaking ball from Akron right-hander Tommy Mace 386 feet out to right field to put the Flying Squirrels on the board in the top of the second inning.

It was a promising start for Eldridge, who established himself as one of the top power-hitting prospects in the Minors after batting .291 with an .890 OPS and 23 home runs over 116 games while climbing from Single-A San Jose to Triple-A Sacramento in 2024.

While Eldridge ended last season at Sacramento, he ended up appearing in only 17 games above High-A Eugene, as the Giants wanted him to keep playing and stay prepared for a brief stint in the Arizona Fall League. Given his lack of upper-level experience in the Minors, the Giants felt it was best for him to open the 2025 campaign back at Double-A Richmond, where he’ll have a chance to play only an hour and a half from his hometown of Fairfax, Va.

Now that he’s healthy and back in action, the Giants plan to keep close tabs on Eldridge, who also flashed his eye-popping power by launching a Statcast-projected 450-foot home run in his Cactus League debut in February.

“We watch everybody, but obviously, he’s the top prospect in the organization,” manager Bob Melvin said Tuesday. “He was with us in Spring Training, and we feel like he has a really bright future. We’ll take a hard look at him and hopefully he gets off to a good start and does his thing. We’ll see where it goes from there.”

The Giants don’t plan to rush Eldridge, who remains a work in progress defensively, but the 2023 first-round Draft pick could force the issue if he continues to mash in the Minors, especially given the lackluster production the club has received from the slumping LaMonte Wade Jr. (.473 OPS). Wade’s slow start is a major reason why San Francisco first basemen entered Tuesday with a paltry .476 OPS, which ranked 29th in the Majors, ahead of only the Rockies.

Will the needs of the big league roster impact Eldridge’s timeline?

“I’m not really sure about that,” Melvin said. “He’s going to have to perform to get here. That’s something [president of baseball operations] Buster [Posey] has stated. If you perform well, then you’ve got an opportunity to get to the big leagues.”

While the Giants view Eldridge as their first baseman of the future, the organization wants to make sure he’s fully developed before giving him a chance to hold down the spot in the Majors.

“He’s young, and he’s super talented,” vice president of player development Randy Winn said last month. “Big, strong. He’s got some power. I think he’s going to surprise some people with his hitability. He’s got a really short swing. I just want him to continue to improve in all facets of the game.

“A lot of the game is kind of the mental side as well. How do you deal with failure? How do you hit in certain situations? How do you hit if somebody is pitching around you? How do you hit when you’re not feeling great? Those are all things he’s got to learn, but you can only learn that with more reps. And then obviously, becoming a complete player -- fielding, baserunning -- as well.”