SF Giants’ top prospect Eldridge enjoying his time in native Virginia, but he knows California is calling

RICHMOND Va Bryce Eldridge doesn t know how he got so lucky The Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels the San Francisco Giants only minor-league affiliate on the East Coast play roughly miles from Eldridge s hometown of Vienna Virginia And Eldridge a -year-old not yet two years removed from high school is enjoying every opportunity to play in his home state His family attends nearly every home challenge He s slept in his own bed on off days He hangs out with his friends when he has the time The Flying Squirrels pack The Diamond their -seat ballpark nearly every night and several percentage of that crowd can be attributed to the native Virginian s presence Yes the Giants top prospect loves playing close to home He ll also be on the first flight out when the time comes California soon will be calling Sacramento then San Francisco I m not getting caught up on when or if it happens this year but if it does it does Eldridge recounted this news organization this week I m just going to trust in Buster Posey and the front office Whatever their decision is I m ready to go whenever they call me For all Eldridge s prospective his chances of making the majors this season are slim Posey tempered those expectations during the MLB Winter Meetings noting how the -year-old Eldridge would only be a sophomore had he attended college There s no shortage of fans clamoring for Eldridge to join the Giants sooner rather than later especially with LaMonte Wade Jr struggling specifically and the entire band struggling generally For now Eldridge will continue to ride the bus The -foot- first baseman missed several weeks due to a left wrist injury that he sustained during spring training pushing his season debut back to April Eldridge started slow despite homering in his first at-bat of the season but entering Saturday Eldridge owns a slash line of with six home runs over games in May This output comes after Eldridge hit homers with RBIs over four levels last season The long-term question with Eldridge is not his bat but his defense The Giants drafted Eldridge out of James Madison High School as a two-way player but swiftly scrapped those plans They initially placed him in right field in but moved him to first base last season There have been growing pains for Eldridge who has committed errors in career games at first base but the organization has surrounded him with mentors to work on his defense San Francisco Giants prospect Bryce Eldridge bats for the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels during a challenge at The Diamond in Richmond Virginia Photo Mick Anders Richmond Flying Squirrels Matt Williams and J T Snow who own a combined Gold Gloves worked with Eldridge during his first big league spring training Joe Panik the former Giants second baseman turned special assistant joined the Flying Squirrels last week and worked with Eldridge And in latest months Eldridge has gotten plenty familiar with one of the best first basemen in franchise history He s definitely going to be a major leaguer mentioned special assistant Will Clark a five-time All-Star and one-time Gold Glover who served as the Giants starting first baseman for eight seasons It s just as of this point in his career he just requirements more repetitions at first base defensively Clark who has worked with Eldridge four times in the last year emphasized that Eldridge has only played the position for a little more than a year To Clark Eldridge necessities a high volume of innings so he can experience the stuff that happens in games that surprises you He pointed to a teaching moment last week where Eldridge hesitated on a throw in the dirt instead of attacking it The development was the ball skipping past Eldridge allowing a runner to sum There was also a contest during Eldridge s time with High-A Eugene where Clark recognized a right-handed hitter being late on a fastball Clark got Eldridge s attention and notified him to be ready On the next pitch the hitter smashed a rocket at Eldridge one that he fielded cleanly and tagged first for the out He came in the dugout and was like Man thank you so much I m like Those are the kind of things that you need to observe Clark declared When a guy s late like that that s the guy who s going to hit one at you Or vice versa You got a left-hander and he s out in front of chosen developing balls That s the guy that s going to hit a ball at you So just the little things that he s learning On the fly he s learning and the more repetitions he gets at first base the better off he is Along with Clark Eldridge works consistently with Richmond manager Dennis Pelfrey and fundamentals coach Lipso Nava Pelfrey who also managed Eldridge during the Arizona Fall League preaches the idea of playing first base like a shortstop staying low staying athletic staying balanced San Francisco Giants' Bryce Eldridge takes infield practice during spring training at Scottsdale Stadium in Scottsdale Arizona on Friday Feb Jose Carlos Fajardo Bay Area News Group He has dedicated himself to becoming a great first baseman announced Pelfrey who became the Flying Squirrels winningest manager last week He s times better than he was last year at that position He s still got a long way to go obviously He knows that For a -foot- guy the strides are long anyways but he s making those types of strides defensively as well Added Nava He s a guy that picks it up quick He s a fast learner and that s one of the things that s going to allow him to move quicker through the minor leagues Under Clark s tutelage Eldridge isn t just learning the nuances of first base He is also slowly adopting the mindset that made Clark one of baseball s fiercest competitors Eldridge born about four years after Clark s final tournament is plenty familiar with Clark s intensity He s seen the greater part of Clark s highlights on YouTube among them the time he slid hard into the Cardinals Jose Oquendo and incited a true benches-clearing brawl Eldridge might not get to that level but he s willing to embrace a Clark-ian edge A lot of baseball is mental and having his mentality of basically F you I m better than you every single time I go out there is definitely something I picked up from him Eldridge announced Mentioned Clark People are scared of him They know that he hit -something homers last year and drove in -something They know he s our No prospect in the organization They know all that crap Well if they re scared of him when you walk up to the plate you own that You walk up to the plate like you re Aaron Judge I m -foot- and I m going to hurt you Eldridge who won t turn until October will have the summer to sharpen that mentality against Eastern League and in time Pacific Coast League pitching The Giants have no desire to rush Eldridge Clark among those looking at the long-term picture Related Articles Ray caps off best month of career takes loss as Marlins silence SF Giants Harrison bullpen snap SF Giants losing streak with win over Marlins Kurtenbach The SF Giants desperately need offense Buster Posey should look at these four trade-deadline targets SF Giants take - lead but can t hold it and are swept by Tigers Bob Melvin ejected Logan Webb hit around in SF Giants loss to Tigers All you gotta do is be recipient Clark reported He s a very good athlete And when he gets to the major leagues he s going to be a complete participant A promotion to Triple-A Sacramento sometime this summer seems inevitable Eldridge the third-youngest member in the Eastern League owns a slash line of with five homers and RBIs When Eldridge plays home games in his home state he has a OPS entering Saturday For the time being Eldridge is content to continue polishing his skills in Richmond and enjoying the family time that comes with it He spent Mother s Day with his mom Time will tell if he ll still be home to spend Father s Day with his dad too San Francisco Giants' Bryce Eldridge is congratulated in the dugout after connecting for a two-run home run against the Texas Rangers in the ninth inning of a spring training baseball competition at Surprise Stadium in Surprise Arizona on Saturday Feb The San Francisco Giants defeated the Texas Rangers - Jose Carlos Fajardo Bay Area News Group