San Francisco Giants draftee Bryce Eldridge takes batting practice before the game between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics at Oracle Park on July 26, 2023 in San Francisco, California. Eldridge was drafted 16th overall in the first round of the 2023 MLB Draft. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
The 16th overall pick in the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft, two-way player Bryce Eldridge, was promoted to Low-A San Jose in the San Francisco Giants organization on Tuesday, MilB Central’s social media pages reported.
Eldridge, 18, was born in Fairfax, Virginia, and had been in the Arizona Complex League. He signed with the Giants on July 17 for $4 million, which was below the slot value. He had committed to the University of Alabama prior to signing a professional contract.
He was assigned to the complex level on July 29 and played in 16 games, batting .294 over 61 plate appearances. Eldridge recorded 15 hits, three doubles, five home runs, 13 RBI, nine walks, and struck out 16 times with a 1.041 OPS.
Eldridge won the Gatorade Virginia Baseball Player of the Year Award out of James Madison High School in Vienna, Virginia. As a senior, he went 9-0 on the mound with a 1.06 ERA, 66 strikeouts, and eight walks in 39.2 innings. Offensively, he batted .422 with eight home runs, 23 RBI, and an OPS of 1.716.
Eldridge was the nation’s No. 8 prospect in the Class of 2023 by Perfect Game and was the World Baseball Softball Confederation 2022 U-18 World Cup Tournament MVP for Team USA last September. He closed out Team USA’s win against Chinese Taipei in the gold medal game 5-1 at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida.
During the U-18 World Cup, Eldridge batted .316 in eight games with 19 at-bats, recording six hits, one double, three home runs, 13 RBI, seven walks, and struck out seven times.
Eldridge had three appearances out of the bullpen in the U-18 World Cup, throwing three innings with one save and allowing one hit, no earned runs, two walks, and five strikeouts while facing 10 batters.
Eldridge has not pitched since he joined the Giants organization last month, and will be evaluated with player development officials during the offseason. He has been playing right field defensively in 15 games at the complex level.
The Low-A San Jose Giants (23-26) in the California League North Division and are nine games back of the first place (68-47) Fresno Grizzlies in the second half of the season.
The San Jose Giants will play the second game of their six-game game home series on Wednesday against the second place California League North Division Modesto Nuts (28-21) at 4 p.m. EDT. The game will be streamed on MiLB.com with a paid subscription.
