Eldridge homers in first AB of 2025

Plus: Whisenhunt named PCL Pitcher of the Week

Wednesday, April 23 SAN FRANCISCO -- Bryce Eldridge is back.    The Giants' No. 1 prospect made his season debut with Double-A Richmond on Tuesday after completing his rehab from a left wrist injury and immediately picked up where he left off from his breakout 2024 campaign. The 20-year-old first baseman homered in his first at-bat of the year, crushing a hanging breaking ball from Akron right-hander Tommy Mace 386 feet out to right field to put the Flying Squirrels on the board in the top of the second inning.     It was a promising start for Eldridge, who established himself as one of the top power-hitting prospects in the Minors after batting .291 with an .890 OPS and 23 home runs over 116 games while climbing from Single-A San Jose to Triple-A Sacramento in 2024.    While Eldridge ended last season at Sacramento, he ended up appearing in only 17 games above High-A Eugene, as the Giants wanted him to keep playing and stay prepared for a brief stint in the Arizona Fall League. Given his lack of upper-level experience in the Minors, the Giants felt it was best for him to open the 2025 campaign back at Double-A Richmond, where he'll have a chance to play only an hour and a half from his hometown of Fairfax, Va. === Now that he's healthy and back in action, the Giants plan to keep close tabs on Eldridge, who also flashed his eye-popping power by launching a Statcast-projected 450-foot home run in his Cactus League debut in February.    "We watch everybody, but obviously, he's the top prospect in the organization," manager Bob Melvin said Tuesday. "He was with us in Spring Training, and we feel like he has a really bright future. We'll take a hard look at him and hopefully he gets off to a good start and does his thing. We'll see where it goes from there."    The Giants don't plan to rush Eldridge, who remains a work in progress defensively, but the 2023 first-round Draft pick could force the issue if he continues to mash in the Minors, especially given the lackluster production the club has received from the slumping LaMonte Wade Jr. (.473 OPS). Wade's slow start is a major reason why San Francisco first basemen entered Tuesday with a paltry .476 OPS, which ranked 29th in the Majors, ahead of only the Rockies. Will the needs of the big league roster impact Eldridge's timeline?    "I'm not really sure about that," Melvin said. "He's going to have to perform to get here. That's something [president of baseball operations] Buster [Posey] has stated. If you perform well, then you've got an opportunity to get to the big leagues."   While the Giants view Eldridge as their first baseman of the future, the organization wants to make sure he's fully developed before giving him a chance to hold down the spot in the Majors.     "He's young, and he's super talented," vice president of player development Randy Winn said last month. "Big, strong. He's got some power. I think he's going to surprise some people with his hitability. He's got a really short swing. I just want him to continue to improve in all facets of the game.    "A lot of the game is kind of the mental side as well. How do you deal with failure? How do you hit in certain situations? How do you hit if somebody is pitching around you? How do you hit when you're not feeling great? Those are all things he's got to learn, but you can only learn that with more reps. And then obviously, becoming a complete player -- fielding, baserunning -- as well."

Three Giants prospects who are off to hot starts - Giants Beat

Some of us old goats remember when the Giants would develop prospects. Exciting prospects. 

 

This doesn't even include Bryce Eldridge and LHP Carson Whisenhunt. So, short-term, pipeline looks good. Slightly longer term, not too shabby as well.  

Plus: Posey back as front-office force in SF

Saturday, April 12 The Giants have emerged as one of the early surprises of the 2025 season, with Jung Hoo Lee, Wilmer Flores and Mike Yastrzemski among the hitters who have powered the club's strong start to the year.    But the positive developments haven't been limited to the big league club.    Here's a look at three Giants prospects who have also come strong out of the gate in the Minors this year:    1. Carson Seymour, RHP (Giants' No. 20 prospect per MLB Pipeline) Triple-A Sacramento's rotation features plenty of notable names, including Kyle Harrison, Keaton Winn and Carson Whisenhunt (No. 2), but the unit's most impressive starter thus far has been Seymour, who has logged a 0.64 ERA with 17 strikeouts over 14 innings across his first three outings of the year. The 26-year-old right-hander racked up 13 K's over nine shutout innings over his first two starts, which earned him Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week honors for the week of April 1-6. Seymour was added to the Giants' 40-man roster in November, so he should be part of the next wave of young starters who could debut in San Francisco in the not too distant future.   2. James Tibbs III, OF (No. 4) The Giants' 2024 first-round Draft pick, Tibbs earned a quick promotion after batting .415 over nine games at Single-A San Jose last summer, but he cooled off significantly once he reached the Northwest League. The 22-year-old outfielder hit only .134 with two home runs and 25 strikeouts over 17 games with High-A Eugene in 2024, a mildly concerning stretch for a player who was viewed as one of the most advanced hitters in his Draft class.    Tibbs returned to High-A Eugene for the start of the 2025 campaign, but he's making a far better impression at the plate this time around. He entered Friday having hit safely in each of his first five games for the Emeralds, batting .368 (7-for-19) with a 1.152 OPS and one homer over that span. Tibbs reached base in seven of his first eight plate appearances to start the year and capped that stretch by crushing his first home run of the season -- a solo shot to straightaway center field -- against Hillsboro on April 5.  Tibbs' former Florida State teammate, Cam Smith, was taken one pick after him in last year's Draft and is already in the Majors with the Astros, so the Giants will hope to see a similarly fast rise from their own first-rounder this year.     3. Dakota Jordan, OF (No. 6) The Giants gambled on Jordan's tantalizing upside when they took the power-hitting outfielder in the fourth round of the 2024 Draft. The early returns have been promising so far this year. Jordan entered Friday batting .364 (8-for-22) with one home run, six RBIs and two stolen bases over his first six games with Single-A San Jose. The 21-year-old hammered his first professional homer against Visalia on Wednesday, launching a two-run shot over the center-field wall to cap a three-hit night at Excite Ballpark. Strikeouts remain an issue for Jordan, who has whiffed in seven of his first 22 at-bats, but he's made some tweaks to his batting stance since joining the Giants organization and is now standing taller to try to stay more relaxed in the box.     "When it comes to the hitting part, I would say it's 50 percent for me," Jordan said before the Giants' Spring Breakout game last month. "I've got the quick bat, the quick twitch. For me, I don't need to be all jumpy and everything. Really for me, whenever I'm hitting, I just sit back and relax now. That's something that I've learned even in my cage routines now. You don't have to hit, hit, hit. You can hit, take a breather, catch your breath. That's something that I learned. Being able to breathe and relax and have fun."

Marco gets a wide range of evaluations from BP.com

The following from one of Baseball Prospectus' correspondents and yet Marco is also listed as the Giants #1 prospect in aother article. 

That may speak poorly of the Giants current shallow pool of prospects. Giants fans have been through this before but, for the love of Wendell Fairley, does not even a blind squirell occasionally find himself a nut? 

Maybe the Giants scouting and player development minions are less sskilled at their primary jobs than the proverbial blind squirell is at his.  

from Baseball Prospectus.com:

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/prospects/article/87678/top-101-prospect-pushback/?mc_cid=9e0bfeaf23&mc_eid=a549431bcb

 Luciano is the personification of prospect fatigue, having been a fixture on prospect lists longer than I’ve been employed by BP. A lot of Luciano’s past rankings were when the public side was way, way behind on identifying traits that translate to big league production. Had we had things such as zone contact rates and SEAGER scores when Luciano was climbing the minor league ranks, there’s a chance Luciano is even further down this year’s ranking, if on it at all. 

Luciano isn’t dissimilar to Ronny Mauricio, who notably isn’t on this list. He has plus-plus bat speed that’s looked a lot more like just plus at times of late, and he struggles to pick up any spin out of the pitcher’s hand. He’s in the dead zone where he chases too much and doesn’t make enough contact in the zone to justify said chases issues. The bat speed and Luciano’s surprising ability to stick at the 6 are literally the only things keeping his current ranking afloat. But the ship has sunk and Luciano’s strapped into the lifevest, hoping he can make it to shore before his stock sinks to the ocean floor. —Smith Brickner

Giants add a catcher

​from FanGraphs:

Giants add a catcher

Stathead: HOF Spotlight

 

Once again, not sure what the voters are looking for. I think Kent checks all the boxes and yet he is on his next to last year on the ballot. 

They made Ortiz's case on the same day. Why not, keeping Bonds out is good enough for most of the electors because they care more about how players treated the media than almost anything else. 

HOF Candidate Spotlight

Jeff Kent 2B/3B/1B | 1992 - 2008 | NYM, TOR, CLE, SFG, HOU, LAD

 MVP   5x All-Star   4x Silver Slugger 

WAR: 55.5 Better than 36.4% of HOFers Black Ink: 0 Better than 0.0% of HOFers Gray Ink: 71 Better than 11.7% of HOFers HOF Monitor: 122.5 Better than 40.5% of HOFers JAWS: 45.62 Better than 35.0% of HOFers at 2B

Jeff Kent enters his 9th year on the ballot. After hovering in the teens for most of his eligibility, he has made a jump in the last two cycles and peaked at 32.4% of the vote last year. Kent was an average starter for most of the 1990s, not finding his peak performance until joining the San Francisco Giants in 1997. During his 6-year Giants tenure he finished in the top 10 of MVP voting 4 times, including winning the NL MVP in 2000 over his teammate Barry Bonds.

Kent provided a lot of offensive value from a traditionally weaker position of second base. Kent hit 351 of his home runs as a second baseman, the record holder by a decent amount. Kent was not a top defender at the position, only surpassing 1.0 defensive WAR in his 1997 season. That being said, his total value was the best among 2nd basemen for a time. From 1997-2005, Kent recorded 42 WAR, with the next closest 2nd baseman being Craig Biggio with 32 WAR in that time span.

 

Luciano, Murphy lead next wave bound for Bay

Sounds like Luciano, Pomares & Matos replace Bart & Ramos, who need to produce at MLB level. No sleepy on Harrison (LHP) or the 5-9 C Aurebach. :) 

When the smallish kids open eyes, that bears watching.

The Anatomy of GREAT AB aka: Buster Posey Fights for His Pitch | FanGraphs Baseball

Lost in the minutiae, just like the Giants greatness at times. The casual fan turns off or clicks to another channel after about 2 or 3 foul balls and misses the greatness that was embedded, but well hidden, in this AB. Like a pearl in a shell.

This AB is a mini-clinic on having a good hitting approach and strategy, plate discipline and batting eye as well as tough as nails two-strike hitting

from FanGraphs Baseball:
Buster Posey Fights for His Pitch | FanGraphs Baseball:

When a hitter gets into a two-strike count, his mission is to protect the plate. The expectation is that he’ll swing at anything close, so that he doesn’t strike out looking. You look stupid when you strike out looking and nobody likes it. This outside fastball was very close and Posey didn’t swing at it. It was a ball, it was definitely a ball, but it was almost a borderline strike, and there have been worse strikes before, probably even called by this very umpire. Posey didn’t swing at it. Had this pitch been called a strike, some fans might’ve been upset at Posey for not protecting. This pitch was called a ball and we wonder instead if Posey has just the most amazing eye in the universe. Results-based analysis allows us to label this a spectacular take. Blanton executed perfectly. Posey did the right thing, probably. Posey definitely did the right thing in hindsight.

'via Blog this'

The author ends his piece with "Great at bat by Posey. He seems to have a lot of those." Now you know why. Sometimes greatness in baseball is disguised or hidden beneath the surface and what seems to be inaction to the casual observer is really greatness in disguise. I think Paink and Belt show similar approaches and discipline and consequently they throw out great AB's on many occasions as well as Posey. Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals is another one from the opposite side of the field. They don't back down or give in with two strikes and they certainly don't just swing from the heels. They hunker down and battle.

If you have a lineup full of these type of guys you can grind down and wear out even the best pitchers. It seems like the Yankees and Mariners in the early 2000's were loaded with guys like this and go figure, both teams won a lot of games.


More from the article:

Okay, it’s 1-and-2. Blanton has thrown a first-pitch curve for a strike, a low changeup for a ball, and a slider for a strike. Already he’s given Posey a different look.

It’s hard to tell from the camera angle, but this is a fastball down and in, tucked just inside the corner of the zone. It looks like the pitch was supposed to be just a little more inside, to tie Posey up, but it wasn’t in a bad spot, and a foul was about the best Posey could’ve hoped for in a defensive situation. Posey couldn’t cheat by sitting on a fastball while behind in the count.

The thing about most curveballs is that they aren’t really swing-and-miss pitches, like you’d think they might be. They disrupt timing and frequently catch hitters looking. From his body language, Blanton probably hoped this was a swing-and-miss curveball. It was perfectly located, low, and just off the plate. Posey wound up ahead of it and barely got a piece. A piece was all that he needed to get to keep himself alive.

This is a pitch that was quickly forgotten, given the way the at-bat wound up. Ahead 1-and-2, Blanton missed with a fastball and gave Posey a heater right down the middle of the zone. This was presumably not one of the put-away pitches to which Blanton was referring. This was a mistake, but because Posey probably still had offspeed pitches in his mind, he couldn’t get the swing he’d like to get on this pitch. He stayed alive, though.

When a hitter gets into a two-strike count, his mission is to protect the plate. The expectation is that he’ll swing at anything close, so that he doesn’t strike out looking. You look stupid when you strike out looking and nobody likes it. This outside fastball was very close and Posey didn’t swing at it. It was a ball, it was definitely a ball, but it was almost a borderline strike, and there have been worse strikes before, probably even called by this very umpire. Posey didn’t swing at it. Had this pitch been called a strike, some fans might’ve been upset at Posey for not protecting. This pitch was called a ball and we wonder instead if Posey has just the most amazing eye in the universe. Results-based analysis allows us to label this a spectacular take. Blanton executed perfectly. Posey did the right thing, probably. Posey definitely did the right thing in hindsight.

Back to work. Blanton throws Posey a fastball tucked into the low-away corner. Maybe a little too over the plate, but not that badly over the plate. Posey knows to protect this time, because the pitch looks like a strike, or it looks like it could be called a strike. Foul ball. Tough pitch to hit; maybe the next one will be better. That’s the idea of the whole at-bat, basically. Tough pitch to hit; maybe the next one will be better.

I still can’t quite figure out how the at-bat didn’t end with a strikeout right here. This is a changeup, low, out of the zone, just over the outer half. It begins away and tails back over the plate, like a backdoor changeup, and also there’s the part where it was low and out of the zone. This is a strikeout pitch. I suppose it could’ve been more low, but it was sufficiently low to generate a swing and miss. Posey gets out in front and gets a piece. Tough pitch to hit; maybe the next one will be better.

Kablammo! “M-V-P” chants. “Beat L-A” chants. Starting to think that Blanton doesn’t only do the little hop when he thinks he’s getting a swing and miss. This is the very definition of a hanging slider. Instead of being thrown to a good spot, this slider is thrown to pretty much the worst possible spot, up and over the middle of the plate. I wouldn’t say it looks like a homer off the bat, but it looks like it might be a homer, and indeed it was a homer. Posey was working toward this, and after fighting off a bunch of pitcher’s pitches, he took advantage of a hitter’s pitch.

To review:

Old-timey baseball wisdom asserts that a hitter gets one pitch to hit in any given at-bat. Of course that isn’t always true, and it would be outrageously bizarre if that were always true, and here you could say that Posey got two good pitches to hit, even after falling into a two-strike count. The second pitch to hit was much much more hittable than the first one and Posey made no mistake. It was Blanton who made the mistake, after having executed so effectively before.

The temptation is to believe that Posey did this on purpose. That he kept fighting pitches off so he could live to see another. I’m guessing Posey wasn’t trying to just foul off all those pitches, but it’s to his credit that he could anyway. For the most part Blanton did what he wanted and he couldn’t make Posey go away until Posey made himself go away after jogging in a circle. Buster Posey kept himself from striking out when he easily could’ve struck out, and eventually, a pitcher will make a bad mistake. No pitcher can hit his spot every single time. Sometimes even the best command pitchers will miss by a foot, or more.

And that’s the story of how Buster Posey hit his 20th home run of the season. Draw all the parallels to the NL West race that you like. The Dodgers got off to a quick start, but they couldn’t put the Giants away, and the Giants ultimately vaulted ahead. I’ve said before that everything is something else in a nutshell, and this Blanton vs. Posey at-bat is most certainly included in everything.

Great at-bat by Posey. He seems to have a lot of those.

1. • • 
       

       
       
       

2015 MLB Draft Scouting Reports

More luscious data about Lucius Fox, who if he is all that he is cracked up to be, elevates the Giants draft grade maybe another tick or two. Of course, given the sizable bonus, he better be all he is cracked up to be or the Giants are just foolish. Big risk, big reward, right?

from FanGraphs.com

http://www.fangraphs.com/scoutboard.aspx?draft=2015int&type=0&pos=ss

Rank	Name	Pos	Age	Country	Trainer	Ht	Wt	Bats	Throws	FV	Risk	Proj Bonus	Proj Team	Report	Video
3	Lucius Fox	SS	18.0	Bahamas	MVP Sports	6'2	170	B	R	50	4	$6,500,000	Giants	Report	Video
5	Wander Javier	SS	16.5	Dominican	Josue Mateo	6'0	165	R	R	45	4	$4,000,000	Twins	Report	Video
6	Andres Gimenez	SS	16.8	Venezuela	Eduardo Navarro	5'11	160	L	R	45	3	$1,250,000	Mets	Report
8	Derian Cruz	SS	16.7	Dominican	Javier Rodriguez	6'0	170	B	R	40+	4	$2,000,000	Braves	Report	Video
9	Gregory Guerrero	SS	16.4	Dominican	Wilton Guerrero	5'11	175	R	R	40+	4	$1,800,000	Mets	Report	Video
13	Jeison Guzman	SS	16.7	Dominican	John Carmona	6'2	175	L	R	40	4	$1,300,000	Royals	Report	Video
15	Ronny Brito	SS	16.3	Dominican	Laurentino Genao	6'2	170	L	R	40	4	$2,000,000	Dodgers	Report
19	Aramis Ademan	SS	16.8	Dominican	Amauris Nina	5'10	150	L	R	40	3	$2,000,000	Cubs	Report	Video
22	Yonathan Perlaza	SS	16.6	Venezuela	Douglas Aguiar	5'8	175	B	R	40	3	$1,200,000	Cubs		Video
24	Kevin Melean	SS	16.8	Venezuela	Ricardo Petit	5'10	160	R	R	40	4	$550,000	Padres		Video
28	Miguel Hernandez	SS	16.2	Venezuela	Ciro Barrios	5'11	155	R	R	35+	3	$800,000	Reds		Video
36	Raffy Ozuna	SS	16.8	Dominican	Cachaza	6'2	170	L	R	35	5	$650,000	Cardinals
47	Eduardo Torrealba	SS	16.3	Venezuela	Jose Montero	5'8	150	R	R	35	4	$300,000	Red Sox
	Enrique Saldana	SS	16.0	Panama	German Hill	5'11	150	B	R	35		$500,000	Rockies
	Juan Morales	SS	16.6	Venezuela	Andres Puertas	6'0	150	R	R	35		$450,000	Braves
	Christopher Navarro	SS	16.0	Dominican	Nelson Montes de Oca	5'9	150	R	R	35		$450,000	Rockies

Lucius Fox

Fox played last season at American Heritage high school in Delray Beach, FL, on the same team as 2015 draft prospect SS Jonathan India. Fox played at the PG National and East Coast Pro showcases last summer to get exposure for the 2015 draft and there were rumbling he may transfer so he could get regular innings in the spring at shortstop as India was more polished at the position. Fox ended up moving back to his native Bahamas last summer and registered to become a July 2nd prospect instead of a draft prospect, a designation that MLB is very wary of allowing as other prospects have tried it in the past in an effort to get more money, but Fox's Bahamian roots convinced MLB to allow him to become and international prospect eligible to sign starting on July 2nd.

Fox was smaller last summer, around 6'1/160 and ran 6.5 or lower in the 60 (at least 70 speed), but his arm was a little shy for shortstop and while he had contact skills, he had little power. Since moving back to the Bahams, Fox gew an inch, added about 15 lbs. or muscle and is still an easy plus runner, but now with more pop and arm strength. The contact skills are still there and scouts would start him at shortstop in pro ball, though some thing his actions aren't quite good enough to stick and think he'll end up in center field. Second base is also possible, but he'll play shortstop for at least a few years in the minors with upside to be an everyday player at any up-the-middle position. Fox likely wouldn't have gotten more than $2-3 million in the draft but projects to get double that on July 2nd, with the Dodgers the most aggressive suitor, but the Giants, Padres and Rangers are all in the final mix as well.

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