GLENDALE, Ariz. — The San Francisco Giants have used the same designation on each of their past two first round draft picks: Two-way player. But less than two years into either player’s professional career, they have each abandoned that dream.
Bryce Eldridge, the hulking high-schooler taken 16th overall last July, will exclusively pursue hitting this season and going forward, general manager Pete Putila said Tuesday. In giving up the two-way path, Eldridge joins the 30th overall selection in 2022, Reggie Crawford, who said last week he will only pitch.
“We haven’t completely ruled out anything there (in terms of pitching). But this year is going to be first base,” said Putila, speaking from the Glendale Civic Center, where managers and front office personnel from all 15 Cactus League clubs were on hand. “We’re super excited about the bat and we just want him to focus on getting as many plate appearances as possible, shoring up his defense as well.”
Unlike Crawford, who was drafted out of UConn, Eldridge is only 19 years old. Their similarities lay in their phyiscality, with Eldridge standing 6-foot-6 and Crawford at 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds. Eldridge has coupled that size, according to scouts, with elite swing mechanics to create explosive batted-ball data that jumped out in his pro debut last season in the Arizona Complex League and at Single-A San Jose.
In 31 games between the two levels, Eldridge batted .294/.400/.505 with six home runs and 20 walks to 34 strikeouts.
“It’s a pretty special mix of ingredients, just with regard to his size but also his quick, compact swing with a lot of bat speed,” Putila said. “I think his ability to make contact coupled with his size and a strong history of plate discipline is a pretty special mix. He’s kind of checking all those boxes for us.”
It hasn’t been determined where Eldridge will start the season, Putila said, but San Jose is a good bet. Both Eldridge and Crawford ended last season there.
While neither player will be the next Shohei Ohtani, Putila said there were no regrets about allowing them to pursue that path initially.
“I think it’s gotten more attention over the past few years for obvious reasons, but I think most of our position players, if you put them on the mound, are going to be low- to mid-90s,” Putila said. “I think it just gets a lot more consideration in the draft now.”
Giants’ young arms ‘even deeper’ than Astros
Although currently sidelined, Crawford (lat strain) is one of a large group of the organization’s most promising pitching prospects training with the big leaguers this spring, including Carson Whisenhunt, Mason Black and Hayden Birdsong.
Putila compared the crop of young arms to the one he oversaw in Houston, which turned into one of the game’s top homegrown rotations with Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier and Luis Garcia, except he said the Giants’ group was even more numerous.
“I’ve actually drawn a lot of comparisons to the arms we had in Houston around 2019 or so,” said Putila, the assistant GM in Houston before being hired by the Giants. “Internally we felt confident about the arms we had. Externally prospect rankings, farm rankings and whatnot, maybe it wasn’t as high. But we had that confidence.
“I think it’s an even deeper group here. … We’re firing on all cylinders pitching development-wise.”
Lopez love
The Giants were interested enough in Otto Lopez to send cash to the Blue Jays earlier this month to bring him into their infield mix. That alone put the 25-year-old utilityman in good position to carve out a reserve role on the Opening Day roster.
But it would appear Lopez has only improved his odds in the first days of camp. His name was the first to escape Putila’s mouth when he began to note the early standouts, followed by Jung Hoo Lee, whose batting practice has also impressed staff in the organization.
“It’s exciting to see Otto Lopez,” Putila said. “New guy in the organization. He’s been standing out in batting practice so far.”
However, he said, “It’s that time of year where we don’t have a lot to sink our teeth into besides some BP and sides, so we’re excited to get going.”