Giants Talk: Why top prospect Bryce Eldridge is starting 2026 season in Triple-A
On "Giants Talk," co-hosts Cole Kuiper and Alex Pavlovic react to San Francisco's decision to option top prospect Bryce Eldridge to Sacramento.
Giants Talk: Why top prospect Bryce Eldridge is starting 2026 season in Triple-A originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
Let's start with Bryce then.
Bryce, Eldridge optioned to triple A.
There was a lot of discussion over whether he was gonna make the opening day roster, what the game plan was gonna look like for him in 2026.
And it is now clear that the game plan is him, cooking a little more in the minor leagues.
A lot of discussion here.
we've talked a lot about it.
It's the most important thing they had to decide this spring.
other than, you know, who's in your bullpen and how will can they survive.
But, uh- the Bryce Eldridge question was, for me, the biggest question of the spring.
Mm-hmm.
And I think they decided, like, right after we put up the last podcast.
Yeah.
So had a few days to sit on it.
we You know, I, I know I'm a broken record with this.
I kinda feel like this is one case that's very unique, 'cause it's Buster.
This is one where it's like, okay, Buster's making the call.
It's hard to, like, really go With trades and with, like, I could, I could quibble with what they've done with some of their bullpen things, and, you know, we can talk all that through from the outside.
But this one very specifically, like, he lived this almost exact situation.
He was a- Mm-hmm a more advanced prospect.
but he was a, a very good prospect who got a cup of coffee in September and did not start the big start the next season in the big leagues.
And I don't think Bryce will have to wait as long as Buster did, but you know, it was it's something where he's very qualified to make this decision.
And if years from now we go, they made the wrong decision or they handled Bryce's development wrong, like, that's a huge issue for this front office.
'Cause they, they should know better than really just about anybody in the game how to do this one.
Yeah.
So, and then on top of that, I just, you know, I thought he had a solid spring.
I thought he looked pretty good defensively.
He's made real strides there.
He just didn't really, like, like force the issue, um- Mm-hmm over the last few weeks.
And there were a lot of strikeouts.
that's always kinda g- be the issue for him.
But I, I think it's ironic that he homered against them on Sunday in the, the Sacramento game.
Yeah.
Because, you know, we just didn't see a lot of, we didn't see a lot of damage in spring training.
And I thought he had really good at bats, and I think that's really promising for his future is kind of the quality of, of his at bats.
even the ones that ended in strikeouts, like a, a lot of them I thought were He, he was battling up there and had a good idea of the strike zone.
I, I was really impressed with what I saw this spring.
I just, I think he, he looks really comfortable.
And I think the most important thing here, and again, this goes back to, like, we'll see what they do here and how long he spends in triple A, and, and how they develop him over the next couple years.
But this is one that, like, you cannot screw up.
Like- Yes you need to get his development right.
This can't be a Joey Bart situation.
This can't be Marco Luciano.
This can't be Luis Matos.
So, you know, and part of the issue with some of those guys was they, they were rushed.
And some of these guys have been rushed the last few years.
So this is a different approach.
they need to get it right, 'cause he's a When he's right and when he's, you know, when you see him at his best, like, he's, he's a foundational player.
