Predicting when Bryce Eldridge will debut for SF Giants after late spring demotion

The SF Giants made the decision on Thursday to have top prospect Bryce Eldridge begin the season in Triple-A. It is not a surprising decision after his recent struggles at the plate in spring training, but it does open up the question of when he will debut for the Giants this season.

Of course, Eldridge did spend a brief amount of time with the Giants at the end of last season in September. He did not do very much at the plate, recording just three hits in 28 at-bats. While he was impressive at times this year in spring training, the fact that he struck out 19 times in 40 at-bats was more than enough evidence to justify him starting the year in the minors.

Eldridge will still almost certainly play for the Giants this season

This move will have ramifications for the rest of the roster and probably ensures that Jerar Encarnacion and Luis Matos, two outfielders out of minor league options who may also see time as the designated hitter early in the season, will make the team.

However, things can change very quickly. What if Rafael Devers' hamstring issue flares up again two weeks into the season or Encarnacion goes hitless in his first 20 at-bats? It will not take much for the Giants to call up Eldridge and he can certainly force the issue if he gets hot with the Sacramento River Cats.

But what would be best for Eldridge? Ideally, he would get called up because he has shown that he has nothing left to prove at the minor-league level. It is important to remember that he was not promoted in September of last year because of his performance, although his power numbers were impressive, but because Dominic Smith went down with an injury so the Giants had a need for a first baseman.

It's also instructive, if simultaneously somewhat unfair, to compare Eldridge to Buster Posey since Eldridge is the most highly touted offensive prospect in the organization since Posey.

Posey, now the president of baseball operations for the Giants, has spoken about how the team wants to be patient with prospects and not rush them up too soon. The Giants were patient with Posey in his development. He was called up briefly in September of 2009 but, like Eldridge, did not do much at the plate.

He began 2010 in the minors and was called up on May 29 after slashing .349/.442/.552 with six homers and 32 driven in across 47 games. A dynasty ensued after that.

So, for the sake of tradition, let's say that Eldridge gets called up in late May. How about Memorial Day weekend against the Chicago White Sox? Perhaps starting the year in Triple-A will light a fire under him and lead to a great rookie campaign.