SF Giants slugger playing himself squarely into the NL Rookie of the Year race

There is still a lot of season left for things to change. As of now, SF Giants slugger Bruce Eldridge is playing himself into the NL Rookie of the Year race.

The current frontrunner is JJ Wetherholt of the St. Louis Cardinals. He is hitting .266/.369/.408 (123 wRC+) with 10 home runs, 31 RBI, and 46 runs in 314 plate appearances.

Wetherholt also grades out as one of the best defensive second basemen in baseball. He leads all NL defenders at his position with 4.7 SDI, which factors into the Gold Glove voting. Matt Chapman leads his position in that category as well, giving him an early edge in that award.

There is still a lot of season left. If the season ended today, Wetherholt would likely win the NL Rookie of the Year voting by a landslide. A lot would have to go wrong for him not to take home the award by the end of this season.

SF Giants sluuer Bryce Eldridge has positioned himself squarely in the conversation with recent play

Of course, a lot is going right for Bryce Eldridge, who has seemingly thrust himself into the conversation overnight. It is the first time that a Giants rookie has even been in this conversation since Matt Duffy in 2015. Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs won the award that season, and Joc Pederson of the Los Angeles Dodgers was also in the mix.

Eldridge is hitting .319/.405/.558 (168 wRC+) with six home runs, 16 RBI, and 19 runs in 131 plate appearances. One of his home runs was a walk-off grand slam to complete an improbable comeback against the Washington Nationals.

The left-handed bat’s 168 wRC+ leads all qualified rookies by a wide margin. He is ‘on pace’ for a 5 fWAR season if his current value was extrapolated over 650 plate appearances. That trend can change quickly, but that is the current trajectory.

It is not that Eldridge is just having a great rookie season, it could be one of the better rookie campaigns in franchise history. Of course, Willie McCovey’s rookie season in 1959 stands out as the best in franchise history. During that year, he slashed .354/.429/.656 (185 wRC+) with 13 home runs, 38 RBI, and 32 runs in 219 plate appearances while taking home the NL Rookie of the Year Award.

Eldridge is not hitting quite at that level, but he is not far behind either. The obvious knock against his case is not playing much in the field, but if the 21-year-old rookie continues to hit at this rate, it may be something that the voters can overlook.

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