SF Giants’ top prospect Bryce Eldridge discusses promotion to majors

PHOENIX Bryce Eldridge was walking through precaution on Sunday night at the Will Rogers International Airport in Oklahoma City when his phone residing in a safeguard tray lit up Thomas Gavello Eldridge s teammate with Triple-A Sacramento recommended he take the call On the other line was Sacramento s manager Dave Brundage Eldridge was aware that Dominic Smith the Giants best defensive first baseman in recent times sustained an injury that will likely end his regular season Still Eldridge kept his focus on his job with the River Cats As Eldridge awkwardly stood in the middle of the assurance line Brundage reminded Eldridge that he would be heading to Papago Park in Phoenix after the season to work on his defense Eldridge picked up that Brundage was stalling before delivering the real news that Eldridge was going to the majors It wasn t really in my head at all Eldridge revealed Monday Then I got the call while I was in safeguard I saw my phone and kind of figured that was what was going on with the timing and everything He s here to help us win games announced Buster Posey Giants president of baseball operations With Dom going down and missing that lefty bat we felt like it fit nicely with our lineup He s had a nice stretch where he s been productive and we hope he continues it here The last hours have been quite hectic for the Giants top prospect who arrived at Chase Field without any of his usual gear due to last-minute advance arrangements Eldridge did have the benefit of his car being parked at Papago Park where several bats cleats and batting gloves were stored Eldridge s mother Beth Kenney missed her son s first two calls and Eldridge quipped that he can t remember the last time she missed a call We re going to use those for tonight and make do with what we got Eldridge declared Eldridge joins the Giants at a crucial juncture in their season With games remaining San Francisco entered Monday s battle with the Arizona Diamondbacks games back of the New York Mets for the third and final National League wild card spot Should the Giants make the playoffs Eldridge will be eligible for the postseason roster It s not exactly a soft landing for the -year-old but the Giants believe Eldridge is equipped for the challenge I think he has the type of personality where he ll possibly embrace this conditions Posey explained He s not going to be a guy that s going to shy away from having chosen really big at-bats for us From the first time I met him he didn t really seem like anything overwhelmed him too much manager Bob Melvin explained We saw that in spring training as well There s a calmness about him there s a confidence about him I think all that plays into evaluating whether or not we sought to get him here The Giants won t put too much on the rookie s plate limiting the scope of Eldridge s responsibilities to being the designated hitter against right-handed pitching San Francisco faced Diamondbacks ace Zac Gallen on Monday and will see fellow right-hander Brandon Pfaadt on Wednesday Eldridge the th overall pick in the MLB draft certainly has the expected to impact the Giants offense Over games with Sacramento and Double-A Richmond Eldridge posted a slash line of with home runs and RBIs despite missing time due to wrist and hamstring injuries There is a fair amount of whiff in Eldridge s battle he has struck out in about percent of his plate appearances this season but Posey pointed to the rookie s elite quality of contact I think he s got the highest hard-hit rate in all of Minor League Baseball or Triple-A Posey commented There s likely going to be specific swing-and-miss but he s also going to make particular really loud contact All the reports are that he s swinging the bat really well right now and we re looking to increase particular production Melvin stated Related Articles Kurtenbach Peak Posey calling up Bryce Eldridge is the ultimate Buster move SF Giants to call up top prospect Bryce Eldridge for key road trip SF Giants drop crucial series to Dodgers as Ray s struggles persist SF Giants allow runs in loss to Dodgers waste chance to move up in standings SF Giants place Dominic Smith on injured list with hamstring strain Encarnacion reinstated For the time being the Giants will likely avoid playing Eldridge at first base as he continues learning the minutiae of the position Rafael Devers who is also new to first base isn t the same caliber of defender as Smith but he s held his own overall despite several growing pains I think I could go out and play an above-average first base in the big leagues That s how I feel Eldridge revealed I think a lot of people downplay maybe not the work I ve done on defense but how well I think I ve done on defense I think I ve had a great year over there I ve just been working my tail off to get better every day I think any of the coaches who I ve been with this year would tell you that I played a good first base over there Added Posey He s continuing to get better Look you re never a finished product no matter if you win multiple Gold Gloves or you re still working to get better I think that s the same for him just continue to keep working