For the second straight week running, an SF Giants prospect did not win any Player or Pitcher of the Week honors in the Minor Leagues. There is one prospect though who was in consideration with what he has done throughout the past week or so – Bryce Eldridge.
Top SF Giants power-hitting prospect making noise in California League, extends hit streak to 10
Eldridge is on a roll, rocking a 10-game hitting streak after an exceptional night at the plate on Saturday. The streak started a couple of weeks ago when the San Jose Giants faced the Stockton Ports where Eldridge had a three-hit night in the second game of the six-game series. He has continued hitting ever since, carrying the momentum to Modesto where he has finally flexed his muscles akin to a player with as prodigious of a raw power as he possesses.
Against Modesto, a notorious team for not allowing the long ball, Eldridge smoked three bombs against them in a four-game span. The San Jose staff gave him a day off in the series’ final game. Over the said ten games, Eldridge has a .372/.417/.651 triple slash line and a mind-blowing 17 RBIs with three doubles and the aforementioned three long balls.
We have a Bryce Eldridge grand slam. I repeat, we have a Bryce Eldridge grand slam. His third home run in his last four games. He is on a heater! pic.twitter.com/4fEAKgHbQW
— Giant Prospective (@giantprospectiv) May 19, 2024
It is pretty typical for hitters to start their season cold but tend to heat up along with the weather. For Eldridge, he sustained a hamstring injury after just five games into the 2024 season. It was not anything major for him to be placed on the injured list, but it was enough to keep him sidelined for a couple of weeks.
When he came back, though, things just did not click for him, recording only five hits in his 37 at-bats in the first ten games following his return. The Giants coaches were on the case, and they made adjustments to his swing, particularly with his hands, to time pitchers better. The results were night and day, hence the current ten-game hitting streak.
Eldridge has one of the, if not the, highest ceilings out of all the prospects in the organization in the Farhan Zaidi era. He already has at least plus raw power and the crazy thing is that he is still growing into his frame. Expect him to grow into a physical monster in the next couple of years. He’s shown a smooth and easy swing this season, not trying to hack it out of the yard as he probably knows that the ball just screams over the fence as long as he puts good wood on the ball.
One thing that could be a hindrance to his potential offensive prowess is the strikeouts where even though he is connecting on plenty of baseballs, his strikeouts remained consistent when he was both hot and cold.
In his current hot streak, Eldridge has 11 strikeouts in 48 plate appearances. In his preceding 10-game cold streak, he has 12 strikeouts in 43 plate appearances. Hopefully, it will sort out as he gets more reps, but even if he can’t, there is more than enough power potential to warrant him a much-worthy top prospect status.
