Saturday, June 21

SAN FRANCISCO -- The ripple effects of the Giants’ blockbuster trade for three-time All-Star Rafael Devers will be significant, with short- and long-term ramifications for players throughout the organization. One of the players who could be directly impacted is Bryce Eldridge, a 20-year-old slugger who is ranked as the club’s No. 1 prospect by MLB Pipeline. 

Devers is serving as the Giants’ designated hitter for now, but he’s begun taking grounders at first base and is expected to start playing the field once he gets comfortable at his new position. 

Eldridge is also a first baseman, though he remains a work in progress defensively and will likely need more seasoning at Triple-A Sacramento, where he entered Saturday batting .207 with a .663 OPS and three home runs over 15 games with the River Cats this year. 

With Eldridge and Devers both profiling as first base/DH-types, the Giants will eventually need to figure out how the two power hitters will co-exist in the future. Wilmer Flores will be a free agent at the end of the season, so if he departs, San Francisco could slot Devers into the DH spot full-time and create a path for Eldridge to become their everyday first baseman in 2026. 

Time will tell what the best fit will be, but the Giants are trying to create as many options as possible by getting Eldridge and Devers more exposure at first base this year. President of baseball operations Buster Posey said he’s already had discussions with Devers about Eldridge, who is expected to stay on his current track down in the Minors.

“I see his development path as the same,” Posey said on Tuesday. “He’s going to keep playing first, keep developing at the plate. It’s a conversation that Rafi and I have had already, about Bryce and the future that we potentially see him having. Par for the course for [Eldridge] going forward.” 

Eldridge, the Giants’ 2023 first-round Draft pick, batted .280 with an .862 OPS and seven home runs over 34 games at Double-A Richmond before being promoted to Sacramento earlier this month. While he’s gotten off to a slow start with the River Cats, he’s continued to flash his tremendous raw power, slugging his 10th home run of the year across both levels on Tuesday. 

“He has some time in Sacramento, but he’s trying to acclimate to the new surroundings,” general manager Zack Minasian said. “He goes about things in a pretty professional way. He’s getting his work in. Probably a little bit of an adjustment going from Double-A pitching to Triple-A pitching. But for the most part, we’re really happy with where he’s at. We feel like the bat is heating up.”

Will Devers’ arrival allow the Giants to be a bit more patient with Eldridge this year?  

“Probably to some extent,” Minasian said. “Having that type of presence in the middle of the order alleviates probably a lot of different pressures. We’re fortunate to have [Devers]. I think regardless, we’d like for Bryce to get here when he’s ready. It certainly helps when the Major League team is playing well to not have that feeling of anybody having to be rushed, and when they get here, they’re here to stay. Buster talked about the situation and said it’s fluid. We’re always going to try to keep an open mind.”  

Here’s a roundup of other notable news and performances from the Giants’ four full-season Minor League affiliates:

Triple-A Sacramento 

Keaton Winn hasn’t pitched since April 15 due to right shoulder irritation, but he’s been ramping back up slowly and is getting closer to throwing off the mound competitively. 

Double-A Richmond

Catcher Onil Perez was promoted to Richmond last week after batting .314 with an .861 OPS and two home runs over 31 games with High-A Eugene this year. The 22-year-old Dominican collected his first Double-A hits on Friday, going 3-for-3 with three RBIs in a 7-4 win at Altoona.

High-A Eugene 

Outfielder Bo Davidson, the Giants’ No. 8 prospect, continues to be one of the top hitters in the Northwest League, where he ranked third in batting average (.307), fourth in OPS (.906) and fifth in slugging percentage (.495) entering Friday.

Single-A San Jose 

The San Jose Giants clinched the California League first-half North Division title with a 42-24 record on Wednesday, securing a September playoff berth for the sixth consecutive year. Standouts include No. 5 prospect Dakota Jordan (five homers, .815 OPS), No. 28 prospect Jakob Christian (nine homers, .839 OPS) and 20-year-old outfielder Carlos Gutierrez, who leads Single-A hitters with a .352 batting average over 56 games this year. 

• Second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald entered Friday mired in an 8-for-53 (.151) slump over his previous 18 games, which prompted manager Bob Melvin to hold him out of the starting lineup for two straight days.

“He’s done some good things for us, but it’s just the ebbs and flows of the season,” Melvin said. “Sometimes you struggle a little bit, it gets in your head and you try to do a little too much. You get caught in between -- a little bit behind the fastball, a little bit early on the breaking ball. Hopefully a day off helps.”  

• Center fielder Jung Hoo Lee has also cooled off significantly following his hot start to the year. He entered Friday only 5-for-36 (.139) over his last 10 games and was dropped to seventh in the batting order on Thursday, his lowest spot of the season. 

“There are times that a little change of scenery, I think, helps,” Melvin said. “I talked to him some today. Jung Hoo doesn’t care where he hits. But I’m just taking a little off his plate right now.”

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