Bryce Eldridge copies SF Giants legend with his new number for 2026

The SF Giants made their first Fan Fest stop in San Jose on Saturday, and some news was made as it was revealed what top prospect Bryce Eldridge's new jersey number will be for the 2026 season.

Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area snapped a pic of Eldridge rocking the No. 8 jersey which will immediately make fans think of Giants legend Hunter Pence who wore that number during his time with the team.

SF Giants top prospect will be rocking new jersey number in 2026

When Eldridge was called up for a brief stint in the big leagues at the end of last season, he wore the number 78. That always seemed like a temporary number so 8 feels more fitting for a player as highly touted as Eldridge.

Justice delos Santos of the Mercury News reported on social media that Eldridge chose 8 not to honor Pence but actually because of hockey player Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson who both wear that number.

Eldridge grew up in Virginia so clearly those were his teams growing up. He has already shared that he was a big Washington Nationals and Bryce Harper fan growing up and actually really disliked the Giants for beating Washington in the 2014 NLDS.

Now, he is all in on the Giants and the Giants appear to be all in on him even though there were some trade rumblings earlier in the offseason. Right now it seems like the Giants are going to try to make it work with Eldridge and Rafael Devers splitting time between first base and designated hitter although how Eldridge does in spring training will likely determine whether he breaks camp with the club.

More important than any jersey news is the fact that Eldridge said he is going to be one hundred percent healthy at the start of camp. He had wrist surgery in the offseason so he should not be hampered at all by the injury going into next season.

Eldridge had just three hits in 28 at-bats after getting called up last season, but when he made contact he hit the ball hard.

Perhaps he will have some bulletin board material as MLB executives did not bring him up as a potential National League Rookie of the Year candidate.

Still, it will be cool to see him wear number 8 going forward and hopefully he can channel Pence more than some recent Giants who wore No. 8 like Tommy La Stella and Michael Conforto.