\u201cWe\u2019re going to need our big three guys to lead us out of this funk and produce the way that we know that they can produce,\u201d Posey said before Monday\u2019s homestand opener against the San Diego Padres. \u201cAnd hopefully, Bryce and Jesus can come up here and understand that, my opinion, for them to be successful, just go out and continue to play like they\u2019ve been playing in Triple A.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eldridge, the franchise\u2019s top hitting prospect, was batting .333 with a .445 on-base percentage and six home runs. Rodriguez was batting .330 with a .400 on-base percentage and more walks (12) than strikeouts (11). There\u2019s plenty that gets lost in translation between hitting numbers in the Pacific Coast League and the major leagues. But the Giants\u2019 investment in lineup continuity was a perceived benefit until it became a liability. After a winless and woeful six-game trip to Philadelphia and Tampa Bay, staying with the status quo wasn\u2019t an option.<\/p>\n
So the club promoted Eldridge and Rodriguez. It designated outfielder Jerar Encarnacion, who wasn\u2019t being used and committed one distracted mistake after another when given rare chances. It placed left-hander Erik Miller on the 15-day injured list with a lower back strain while creating a roster vacancy for spot starter Trevor McDonald. Outfielder Will Brennan was returned to Triple-A Sacramento as well. As a result, the Giants\u2019 bench doesn\u2019t include a full-time backup outfielder to Heliot Ramos, Drew Gilbert and Jung Hoo Lee, but Rodriguez can also play second base and the outfield in addition to catcher.<\/p>\n
Rodriguez started at catcher Monday while making his major-league debut, and he has the opportunity to hit his way into the playing rotation at the position, potentially taking time away from two-time Gold Glove winner (and .152 hitter) Patrick Bailey. There could be a tougher decision to make with Bailey in a week or two \u2014 perhaps even an option back to Triple-A Sacramento \u2014 when rookie catcher Daniel Susac (inflamed right elbow nerve) is expected to be cleared to return from the IL.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s take it day to day and see how it looks and make a decision,\u201d Posey said. \u201cNot go too far in advance with that one.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, Rodriguez\u2019s versatility greatly improves the functionality of a bench that Posey and Giants manager Tony Vitello acknowledge has been underused. Backup infielder Christian Koss is capable of playing an outfield corner as well. Backup catcher Eric Haase, who remained on the roster, has an outfielder\u2019s glove, too, and Vitello said there\u2019s been discussion about the outfield as an eventual way to keep Casey Schmitt\u2019s bat in the lineup.<\/p>\n
Schmitt, who can play every infield position, has been the Giants\u2019 most productive hitter this season, so it would make little sense for Schmitt\u2019s opportunities to be most curtailed by Monday\u2019s additions. This raises one of the most important questions put to Vitello on Monday: With Eldridge and Devers limited to first base and designated hitter, how will Schmitt stay involved?<\/p>\n
The answer Monday was for Chapman to take a seat \u2014 and it paid off, as Schmitt started at third base and hit a home run in his first at-bat. On Tuesday, it could be Adames. Devers, who played in 163 games last season, should expect the occasional break, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time to drop our guard down and get a fresh start to the season and \u2026 and sort out the puzzle of how do we involve everybody?\u201d Vitello said. \u201cThe negative to that is going to be, call it ego or pride or whatever \u2026 there\u2019s going to be days when they\u2019re not playing, but the benefit of that is, when they are playing, they\u2019re not going to have any excuses, and not that they have, but they\u2019re going to be fresh of mind and fresh of body.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vitello met with the team after Sunday\u2019s loss at Tropicana Field and announced changes were coming. He did not mince words.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a lot of things to talk about,\u201d Vitello said. \u201cIt\u2019s not like we can change out like a hockey team and get nine fresh guys out there, but it\u2019d be good to have some fresh legs. \u2026 There was a lot said in the last couple days, and it\u2019s time for us to push forward. Not just the coaches, but everybody should have a little bit of edge to them. Our fanbase deserves that at the very least, but also, what we\u2019ve done is not working. So there\u2019s got to be a change in mentality, attitude, and then the actions that go with it, too. You just can\u2019t have thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n
There might come a time when the message to players needs to come from Posey. For now, he said he\u2019s confident Vitello said what needed to be said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTony addressed them last night, and I don\u2019t think, based on what I\u2019ve heard, that there\u2019s probably a need right now,\u201d Posey said.<\/p>\n
How would Posey evaluate Vitello\u2019s performance under trying circumstances?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a less-than-ideal start for the way we have played as a team (for) a guy coming in that understandably was going to be under the microscope,\u201d Posey said. \u201cBut I\u2019ve been pleased with my interactions with him. He is a fiery guy, but he does a really good job getting stuff out after a game, good or bad, and turning the page to the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a major question from the moment the Giants made Vitello the first college head coach with no professional experience to move directly to a major-league dugout: How would he exercise authority with veteran players? Vitello made this much clear during his pregame session with reporters Monday: The time for playing patty-cake is over.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll gladly take the brunt of anything, because if I\u2019ve picked up on the scent, a lot of these guys have let other people write narratives for them, either literally on paper or just mentally, a little too much,\u201d Vitello said. \u201cIf anything, I\u2019ve been a little too back on the heels and given a little bit too much freedom either for leaders to do things or, you know, \u2018This is what we got at second base today, or at the plate,\u2019 and \u2018If you guys want to do this or that, or what\u2019s best for you.\u2019 So I think it\u2019s the opposite at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last year, the Giants didn\u2019t introduce a major roster shakeup until the first week of June when the team hit an offensive lull. That\u2019s when Posey designated his former teammate, LaMonte Wade Jr., and the team signed first baseman Dom Smith. This season, the struggles arrived more than a month earlier. So did the changes.<\/p>\n
![\"Close-up](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2237448042-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI\u2019m feeling sexy at the plate right now,\u201d is what Bryce Eldridge told Jared Oliva before Monday\u2019s game. (Ezra Shaw \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Eldridge will start at least two games in the series against the Padres, Vitello said, and the expectation is that he\u2019s here to play.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a group of hitters that have potential, but we haven\u2019t had anything click or getting the right rhythm,\u201d Vitello said. \u201cWe\u2019ve tried a few different things. Bryce has earned the right to be at this level. If anything, he\u2019ll change it up, and there\u2019s potential to add a spark. But all we\u2019re looking for him to do is be who he is.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not ideal for an organization to call up its top hitting prospect while the big-league team is reeling. But Posey and Vitello expressed confidence that Eldridge has the maturity to handle it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just take into consideration what I\u2019ve learned about the person in the last year and a half or so,\u201d Posey said. \u201cHe\u2019s a pretty mature 21-year-old. His head is in the right place about what he wants to be. He wants to be a winning baseball player. I haven\u2019t asked him, like, \u2018Are you feeling like you have to resuscitate the offense?\u2019 I\u2019d be willing to bet he\u2019s smart enough (to know) that it\u2019s not all him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe he has the chance to be an impact bat. He has the ability to drive the ball to all parts of the field. His ability to drive the ball from center to left-center with power is about as good as there is out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eldridge also has struck out 41 times in 114 at-bats. Giants officials were hoping to see more progress with what otherwise portends to be a troublesome issue against major-league pitching. But they are 13-21 and already seven games off the pace for the third and final NL wild-card spot, so the development timeline required some amendments.<\/p>\n
Eldridge acknowledged the strikeouts but said he isn\u2019t too concerned about them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think a big thing for me was taking my walks,\u201d Eldridge said. \u201cGetting on base is huge for me. Being a power guy, you start to realize (Triple-A pitchers) are trying to pitch around me more than attacking me at that level. And being a power guy, there\u2019s strikeouts involved and whatnot. You can say what you want about that, but if I\u2019m getting on base, if I\u2019m walking, I think it all evens out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shortly after Eldridge packed up his rental house in Sacramento, drove to San Francisco and walked into the clubhouse, he saw Jared Oliva. The injured outfielder asked him how he\u2019s been feeling at the plate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m feeling sexy at the plate right now,\u201d Eldridge told him. \u201cObviously, this is a different ballgame, but it\u2019s not. It\u2019s the same ballgame. Just gonna keep trying to trust myself and trust my teammates, and that\u2019ll bring me a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n
And maybe help the Giants flip the channel to something more satisfying.<\/p>\n
Vitello has spent so much of his initial months as a major-league manager talking about clubhouse vibes and keeping them positive. But good vibes become a feint when they stop reflecting reality. So there was no escaping those TV screens in the clubhouse. This is the team the Giants have been for the first 20 percent of the season. When the path gets rockiest, that\u2019s when it\u2019s most important to understand exactly where you stand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 On a typical afternoon before a game at the San Francisco Giants\u2019 waterfront ballpark, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":651072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,5157,85],"class_list":["post-651071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-san-francisco-giants","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=651071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/651072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=651071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=651071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=651071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}