SCOTTSDALE, Arizona – On September 11, 2009, Buster Posey made his major league debut. He enjoyed his cup of coffee, checked out a few pitches, then started the next year with Triple-A Fresno before being called up to the majors — permanently — in May.
Flash forward to the present day and Posey is faced with a similar situation, where he is making decisions about another teenager’s future.
On September 15, 2025, Bryce Eldridge made his major league debut. He, like Posey, enjoyed his cup of coffee. He, like Posey, checked a few records. Will he, like Posey, also start the next year with Sacramento?
The Bulls have yet to say where Eldridge’s season will begin. They probably won’t give that answer until mid-March. Read between the lines, however, and the answer begins to form.
Additions:N/A
Extraction: Wilmer Flores (Free Agent)
Expected DH WAR rate: on the 22nd
Here’s what manager Tony Vitello had to say about Eldridge last week: “He’s incredibly mature as a kid, but the repetition and the conversations and the growth to become a complete player is the key to him being the best version of himself.”
Now, here’s Vitello talking about Patrick Bailey’s offense: “As a hitter at any level, repetition is the most important thing. As you grow as a player, as the benefit of those who repeat, you get better.”
Finally, Vitello on Drew Gilbert: “Repetitions are huge. … It’s a game based on experience and it’s an art based on experience. … I just think piling up those repetitions and experience helps you really see who Drew is or who Jung (Hoo Lee) is or whoever. If you’re going to play the game for 10 years and you need that much success.”
What is the common word? Repetition. If that’s what Vitello and San Francisco consider important, then Eldridge hasn’t had a ton of them at the professional level.
Eldridge has played two full seasons as a professional since being drafted with the 16th overall pick in the 2023 MLB draft, missing time last year due to a wrist injury that required offseason surgery. He played in 249 minor league games, but only 117 of those games were above A ball. In Triple-A, specifically, he played in just 74 games and made 321 plate appearances.
If Eldridge completely and utterly dominates the Pacific Coast League, maybe the Giants can look beyond a small number of reps. That’s not the case.
Over 66 games in 2025, Eldridge had a .249/.322/.514 slash line with 18 homers and 63 RBIs in Sacramento. The batted-ball data jumps off the page, and those numbers are pretty high. When accounting for the PCL’s offensive position, Eldridge was only five percent better than the league average. He flashed his incredible power, but he was streaky, hitting 30.8 percent of the time and had a lot of air in his game.
It’s also worth noting that Eldridge didn’t participate as much in live bullpens and prepared games on the big field at Scottsdale Stadium on the same team as the guys who have a secure spot on the Opening Day roster.
Willy Adames, Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman and other starters have had more at-bats in the bigs, but the same can’t be said for Eldridge. During Wednesday’s extended playoff game, Eldridge had just one at-bat: a left-handed battle against Reiver Sanmartin. It’s not a sure sign of his condition, but at least it’s telling.
Nothing Posey said last year indicated the team would rush Eldridge to the top. Eldridge just turned 21 this past October, and when Posey was that age, he was still playing college football at Florida State. As interesting as it would be to see Eldridge face Aaron Judge and the Yankees on opening night, it may not be in the cards.
Could the good play during the Cactus League playoffs be a distraction for the Giants? It’s unlikely, but San Francisco’s front office likely won’t be swayed by what he does in Arizona. Eldridge will hit somewhere in the 40 plate-appearance range over the course of upcoming exhibitions, which is too small a sample to determine if he’s improved on the weak areas of his game.
So, if not Eldridge, who? However, the Giants don’t have to look far to find another big man with great potential.
In another lifetime, maybe Jerar Encarnacion, who stands at 6’4” and weighs 240 pounds, attacks quarterbacks alongside Nick Bosa. In this lifetime, he is one of the strongest players in the majors, capable of doing real damage in baseball.
Encarnacion, 28, barely played last year due to bad luck with injuries. He broke his left hand while diving for the ball at the end of spring training, strained his left oblique in June, and pulled his right hamstring in August. That injury allowed him to play 19 games separated by three titles.
The attraction of Encarnacion is still the same as it was last year. He can produce eye-popping velocities, and can play left field, right field and first base. He’s not going to provide Gold Glove-caliber defense in the outfield, but he looked very capable in the corners last season.
Encarnacion doesn’t need to have a monopoly at the DH spot. Vitello can improve the DH spot to get guys on half days or use favorable matchups.
Eldridge, the Giants’ best player since Posey, will contribute to San Francisco at some point this season. When that day comes, it looks like it will come after Opening Day. More reps at Triple-A Sacramento appear to be in store; the question is how many will be enough before Eldridge gets the call.
