The San Francisco Giants called up top prospect Bryce Eldridge a week before Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and for now he is not headed into the lineup every day. Tony Vitello said before the game that Eldridge will primarily be coming off the bench.
That is a different shape than the Giants seemed to have in mind when they promoted him. Eldridge has sat in three of his last four games since the call-up, and in the one game he started he hit his first career home run. Over his first 14 at-bats, he has two hits, five strikeouts and one walk.
The numbers help explain why the Giants are being careful. They already have a lot of money committed to Matt Chapman, Willy Adames and Rafael Devers, and that has left little room for a young bat to force his way into the everyday picture. Casey Schmitt has done well as the designated hitter, while Luis Arraez has been exceptional at the plate and defensively at second base.
That crowded setup has already pushed the Giants into temporary shifts. They initially benched Chapman for a game and started Schmitt at third base, then did the same with Adames and had Schmitt start at shortstop. They had also been giving veterans days off to open chances for Schmitt elsewhere, which is part of the same balancing act now facing Eldridge.
For a player called up with expectations of playing a lot, the early message is clear: the Giants want his bat on the roster, but not yet at the expense of the veterans and versatile pieces already holding the lineup together. Eldridge can still matter quickly. He just may have to do it in smaller doses first.
