SF Giants 2023 top pick pushing for a promotion with impressive game at the plate

The SF Giants hitting prospect landscape has been nothing short of underwhelming this year, where you can find a hitter that is failing to deliver to the pre-season expectations in varying degrees. It has left the system this year with not much excitement with the exception of 2023 top pick Bryce Eldridge.

SF Giants 2023 top pick pushing for a promotion with impressive game at the plate

The towering first baseman has been in a different groove ever since his mighty 15-game hitting streak back in May. And yesterday, he managed to do something that has not done as a professional: a multi-homer game. He led the way in San Jose's 7-4 win against the Inland Empire 66ers, hitting three extra-base hits (a double and two home runs), and driving in five runs.

Eldridge's first at-bat was a battle, where Eldridge went behind the count after just three pitches but managed to work the count by taking pitches out of the zone and fouling off strikes. In the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Eldridge launched his first home run of the day, a flyball to left field close to the foul pole and just over the 320-foot marker. The wind blowing out to left field helped it carry over the fence. It gave the San Jose squad an early 3-0 lead.

In his second at-bat, Eldridge wasted no time at all, punishing the first-pitch fastball out over the plate towards the gap in left-center field for a no-doubt double. With the speedy Jonah Cox once again in the bases, Eldridge drove in another run home to pad the Giants lead.

The fortune is not on Eldridge's side in his third at-bat as he struck out swinging on a good slider down and in off the plate. After taking the first pitch offspeed off the plate and down for a ball, Eldridge put some mustard on the second-pitch, thigh-high fastball left in the inside half of the strike zone, launching it well over the right-center field fence for his second home run of the game. He knew it right off the bat and gave it a short look, wondering where the ball would land.

Eldridge's performance helped him push closer toward double-digit home runs, only needing just one to reach the mark. Aside from the long ball, Eldridge is also leading the team in RBI with 39, slugging with .509, and OPS with .840, while also being second in batting average and doubles. It just continues to show the kind of form that he is ever since correcting his timing in the batter's box.

With only a couple of handful of games left in the first half of the season, the first-class plane ticket to Eugene inches ever closer for Eldridge. He does not need to elevate his game further this year to lock down the top prospect mantle, in my opinion. Keep on the steady progress and build more functional strength in the next few years should be the goal. The question now shifts to can Eldridge hit 20 homers this year? The answer I lean to is a resounding yes.