Buster Posey pours cold water on idea of promoting top SF Giants prospect in September

When will top SF Giants prospect Bryce Eldridge make an appearance at Oracle Park? If Buster Posey's latest comments are any indication, it may not be this season.

Buster Posey pours cold water on idea of promoting top SF Giants prospect in September

John Shea of the San Francisco Standard discussed a number of topics about what Posey hopes to see in the final five weeks of the season. By the way, this was a great interview, and I would highly recommend you checking it out.

Of course, Posey was asked about whether Eldridge might make his MLB debut this year:

"I’d say most likely not. We want him to just get that consistent play. And we want him, when his time does come, to feel like we’re putting him in the best position to hit the ground running."

Buster Posey

Wanting Eldridge to hit the ground running once he is promoted is a fair expectation. And, given that he is just 20 years of age, the Giants want to be absolutely certain he is ready when he is called up.

There have been several examples of Giants prospects in recent years being called up too soon, which has hurt their development. Joey Bart and Casey Schmitt are a couple of names that come to mind. They want to avoid that with Eldridge.

The left-handed bat is not making that decision easy. He is slashing .237/.305/.516 (100 wRC+) with 15 home runs, 51 RBI, and 25 runs in 213 plate appearances. His .279 ISO suggests that he is hitting with plenty of power, but the Giants likely want to see him improve on his 31.9 percent strikeout rate.

Eldridge does have an 83.0 percent in-zone contact rate, which is below average, but not egregiously low. As his 40.9 percent outside-zone contact rate suggests, he is swinging and missing a lot on pitches out of the zone. His strikeout rate should see improvement if he is able to improve on his swing decisions. That often comes with time, and it is easy to forget how young he is.

The Giants also want to see Eldridge improve on defense at first base. To that end, he has shown some improvement, as he has a .987 fielding percentage this season. Perhaps, this is a conversation for a different day, but it will be interesting to see how the Giants plan to fit Eldridge and Rafael Devers on the same roster. Anyways, if you were hoping to see Eldridge put on a Giants uniform this year, you might have to wait a little longer.

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