The Giants’ Bryce Eldridge celebrates after hitting a solo home run, the first of his career, during the fifth inning of Saturday’s game against the Pirates.
Godofredo A. Vásquez/Associated Press
San Francisco Giants’ Bryce Eldridge (8) celebrates with Matt Chapman after hitting a solo home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Saturday, May 9, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Godofredo A. Vásquez/Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Wither Bryce Eldridge?
The San Francisco Giants’ top prospect was called up May 4, and in his first week, he started four games and pinch-hit once. He was not in the lineup again Monday at Dodger Stadium, again sitting against a right-handed starter as he did Friday night.
Is there an everyday spot for the 21-year-old? He’s a DH and first baseman, and manager Tony Vitello made it clear before Monday’s game that Rafael Devers is the everyday first baseman, and Casey Schmitt won’t be coming out of the lineup because he has been the Giants’ most productive hitter.
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“I don’t like ever taking Rafi out, to be honest with you,” Vitello said. “He’s got a track record of posting and he wants to be out there; it’s nice that he’s flexible as far as the DH and will work with us on that, but he’s our biggest threat, As much of a threat as Bryce is, our biggest threat in the lineup is Rafi. Our best producer so far has been Casey.
“So that triangle of bodies there does make it a little bit of a puzzle to solve.”
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Schmitt can bounce around the infield and DH, so he can spell players, but the Giants’ high-priced infield — Matt Chapman, Willy Adames and three-time batting champ Luis Arraez, among the league leaders in average — aren’t going to take well to sitting once a week.
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Where does this leave Eldridge? The Giants had indicated they didn’t want to bring up their best prospects unless there was consistent playing time for them. In this case, it appears that regular pinch-hit appearances count for that, and the days that Schmitt starts at first, Eldridge can pinch-hit and then play first, as he did Sunday. Monday, he was in the on-deck circle ready to hit for Schmitt in the ninth when the inning ended; Vitello said after the game that Eldridge will start Tuesday’s game.
“If we were to look at it from a development scope, I think like last game, you pop in two at-bats with a lot on the line, those might be worth four regular at-bats in a game, if you can make that argument,” Vitello said, adding that with mixing in some starts at DH and first base, “the development part is not going to be slowed at all.”
Vitello said that Eldridge is likely to get one start at DH during the Giants’ four-game series at Dodger Stadium, and president of baseball operations Buster Posey said via text, “We’re looking for every opportunity we think makes the most sense to have him in the lineup.”
Eldridge is OK with all of this. There are zero young players who would prefer playing every day at Triple-A over getting a handful of starts a week plus regular pinch-hitting duty at the big-league level.
“Those aren’t my decisions,” Eldridge said before Monday’s game. “I’m here to do my job, and I’m here to contribute to the team however I can, whatever the situation is, whether I’m starting or coming off the bench.”
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Despite his age, Eldridge is remarkably mature and savvy. If a young player can handle what’s generally considered a very tricky role for a rookie, in particular, it’s Eldridge, and he said he’s working on learning how to be as effective as possible off the bench.
“I have confidence in myself in any situation,” Eldridge said. “It’s not the easiest thing to do, but have confidence in my abilities to start or to come off the bench, have a big at-bat at whatever point in the game. Definitely something I’ve got to figure out is a routine for pinch-hitting — I feel like I took too many swings throughout (Sunday’s) game, because I don’t know when to be ready. It’s just something I’m working on.”
The Giants did not have a big left-handed threat on the bench this year until Eldridge’s arrival, so even though the hope always would be to get a top prospect everyday play, if that’s not entirely possible, he’s at the very least filling a very necessary hole.
Asked to define Eldridge’s role, Vitello said, “A threat. I think the balance that we lacked prior (in not having) even just a lefty off the bench, but also the flexibility to sit a guy at first base or sit a guy at a certain spot. I mean, Casey’s been asked to do a lot, so even a day down as a DH, I think makes sense or has some value in the long run. I think the biggest thing is for us, he’s a big threat in the lineup. He’s a big threat off the bench when he comes in.”
If Eldridge is not going to start every game, if his at-bats are much fewer than they were at Triple-A Sacramento — where, to be fair, teams are always off Mondays — is he here for the long haul or is he a stopgap for now?
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“I think we see him here for the long haul, and he’s here to boost our offense,” Vitello said.
There are other possibilities, of course. The most obvious is that Giants aren’t locked into this if it doesn’t work, but Vitello said that as long as Eldridge is able to stay in a rhythm, that won’t be a problem.
“I’ve kind of looked at it the way of you don’t want him to get stagnant,” Vitello said, “and he’s definitely not going to get the amount of at-bats that he would get if he was on a minor-league team and he’s the key ingredient in the middle of the order — not that he can’t be that for us and that may occur, but just kind of looking at it from a status-quo perspective, I think it’s more important just to keep him in a rhythm, and then hopefully after a month or two, we can assess how much more do you need to push repetitions or not.”
The second possibility is that, if there is an injury anywhere in the infield, everyday playing time could open up at DH because of Schmitt’s versatility.
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And the third is that San Francisco just dealt away a starter, catcher Patrick Bailey, and while there are zero indications they’re looking to move anyone else, should the team remain mired near the bottom of the league, the Giants could trade free-agent-to-be Arraez and get a haul, as the Chronicle reported last week.
It’s more difficult to imagine them moving Devers, Adames or Chapman, given their big contracts, but it’s not impossible should a contender have a major need. This seems the least likely scenario, but Posey has demonstrated he’s unafraid to go against the grain — if he decides he wants to open up an everyday spot for Eldridge, you can be sure he will do so.