SF Giants are doing exactly what they said they wouldn't do with Bryce Eldridge

The SF Giants have finally called up top prospect Bryce Eldridge. While they wanted to be patient early on, with the team struggling as badly as it is they needed to try something to give the team a spark. In doing so, they are doing exactly what they said they wouldn’t do with Eldridge.

Last month, Giants broadcaster Dave Flemming spoke about why Eldridge was still in the minors and said that the Giants don’t want him to feel like the guy who has to rescue the team. Well, with San Francisco currently at 13-21 on the season they could certainly use some rescuing.

Giants are putting a ton of pressure on Eldridge by calling him up right now

While the Giants can tell Eldridge that there’s no pressure on him, he’s still going to feel the weight of getting called up to a bad team. The team is desperate for answers and is underperforming under a new manager who has to feel like he’s drowning right now.

That’s a lot to put on the broad shoulders of the 6-foot-7, 21-year-old, so hopefully he can handle it.

He’s a guy who has said he wants the spotlight and pressure on him in the past. He impressed during spring training against Team USA and earned plaudits from the likes of Aaron Judge and his hero Bryce Harper all while scorching a ball off of Paul Skenes. Maybe he is built for this kind of moment to come in and start hitting some homers to help get the Giants back on track.

Still, the Giants currently have a lineup of guys trying to do too much. Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman, and Willy Adames are all struggling and they're all trying to be the guy to get the team going. Maybe the last thing they need is another slugger who strikes out a ton trying to put a ball into McCovey Cove every time he’s at the plate.

The Giants were smart to call up catcher/utility bat Jesus Rodriguez along with Eldridge. The fact that it’s not just Eldridge getting called up by himself may take a little bit of the pressure off.

Eldridge is still the top prospect, though. He’s the guy who has been touted as a potential savior for the lineup for years. Rodriguez is a solid player but the Giants aren’t banking on fans buying his jersey for years.

By making this move when they did, the Giants are putting a lot of pressure on their young slugger. Maybe president of baseball operations Buster Posey wants this to a certain extent to see how the young bat handles this kind of pressure. Perhaps he gives the team a jolt and the Giants are back at .500 by the end of May or maybe he tries to do too much, harms his confidence, and is back in Triple-A by the end of May.

It’s a move with a lot of risk and contradicts what the Giants seemed to be thinking internally just a few weeks ago, but when the team is 13-21 you don’t really have any other choice. 

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