Giants draft another two-way player in Eldridge

A year after drafting Reggie Crawford, the Giants again selected a two-way player in the first round, taking Bryce Eldridge with the 16th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.

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The Draft’s top two-way player might not be able to pitch and play first base long term in the Majors, but the high school standout from Virginia is an intriguing prospect nonetheless. En route to being named the 2022-23 Gatorade Virginia Baseball Player of the Year, Eldridge put up eye-popping stats for James Madison High School in Vienna, Va. He pitched to a 1.06 ERA with 66 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings; at the plate, he hit .422 with eight home runs, a .649 on-base percentage and a 1.716 OPS. He was the first player from James Madison High to win the award.

“It’s been no secret in the past few years that we like versatility in a lot of different ways,” Giants amateur scouting director Michael Holmes said. “For us, it’s about the athletic ability, the ability to impact the game. Reggie, we felt like even as a hurt player could impact the game, both offensively and on the mound. We’ll put together a player development plan for Bryce moving forward. We’ll turn him over to [director of player development] Kyle Haines and his crew and allow them to kind of map that out for him. More than anything, we’re just really excited to put this type of talent into our system.”

With their second-round pick, the Giants stuck with the high school ranks, taking shortstop Walker Martin at No. 52 overall. The Eaton (Colo.) High School product was the 30th-ranked Draft prospect by MLB Pipeline. San Francisco capped its Day 1 haul by selecting Kent State left-hander Joe Whitman at 69th overall, a compensation pick for losing Carlos Rodón to the Yankees over the offseason.

Eldridge and Martin have college commitments to the University of Alabama and Arkansas, respectively, but Holmes said, “We feel very comfortable with the fact that we think they’ll be Giants.”

A left-handed hitter, Eldridge has a shorter swing than you might expect for his 6-foot-7, 223-pound frame. He has considerable raw power as well as the ability to make solid contact at the plate. Eldridge profiles as an average defensive first baseman thanks to soft hands and mobility around the first-base bag; if he does have to move to right field eventually, he could fit in well with his strong throwing arm.

And what an arm it is. A right-handed pitcher, Eldridge reaches 95-96 mph with his fastball. Both that pitch and his slider in the low 80s received an above-average grade from MLB Pipeline. Eldridge’s changeup earned an average grade, but it has the potential to be another useful pitch for the big righty, who was part of USA Baseball’s gold medal-winning team at the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup last summer as both a hitter and a pitcher. Eldridge was named the tournament MVP.

“We spent a lot of time on him,” Holmes said. “He’s obviously unique for his size, being 6-foot-7. Really good body control. At the plate, it’s a unique ability to have power. We think he controls the zone. He has a very short swing. He’s very short to the baseball, a very balanced stroke. … It’s a guy we’ve seen on the mound get to like 95-96 with a breaking ball. We like baseball players, and first and foremost, Bryce is a tremendous baseball player.”

As with most two-way prospects, there will be debate about whether Eldridge’s future lies on the mound or in the batter’s box. During the high schooler’s senior season, it looked like the industry was leaning more toward him as a hitter. But Eldridge has the talent to reward teams no matter how they choose to deploy him.

Eldridge is likely to follow a similar path to Crawford, who is currently pitching every five days and hitting once a week at Single-A San Jose. The Giants are being extra cautious with Crawford’s workload since he’s coming off Tommy John surgery, but the 22-year-old has said the organization has been supportive of his desire to pursue a two-way path in his first full professional season.

Eldridge, who was ranked No. 23 on MLB Pipeline’s list of top Draft prospects, is the first high school player to be selected in the first round by the Giants since Farhan Zaidi took over as president of baseball operations in November 2018. Zaidi’s regime previously used their top selection on college picks in four consecutive years, drafting Arizona State outfielder Hunter Bishop in 2019, North Carolina State catcher Patrick Bailey in '20, Mississippi State right-hander Will Bednar in '21 and UConn product Crawford in '22.

Martin, 19, batted .633 with 20 home runs -- the most among prep players in the nation -- and 75 RBIs over 29 games during his senior season, earning 2023 Gatorade Colorado Player of the Year honors. Listed at 6-foot-2, 188 pounds, Martin offers tantalizing power from the left side and could only get stronger as he fills out his lean frame. He could end up outgrowing shortstop, though his bat would profile well at third base, where he projects as a solid defender.

“I’m pumped to be a Giant,” Martin told MLB Network. “They’ve got a good team. I’m more excited to be teammates with Bryce Eldridge. We got to talk a little bit at the [Draft] combine. He’s a great kid. I know we’re going to be able to help the Giants, get through the system and hopefully get to the league as quickly as possible. It was a long process, but I’m more than happy to be a Giant.”

Whitman, the 37th-ranked Draft prospect by MLB Pipeline, went 9-2 with a 2.56 ERA and 100 strikeouts over 81 innings during his junior season at Kent State. The Mid-American Conference Pitcher of the Year, Whitman was viewed as one of the top left-handed college arms in the Draft and features a fastball that sits at 91-94 mph and hits 96 with riding action.

The 21-year-old also throws a low-80s slider with horizontal and vertical action, as well as a low-80s changeup, giving him a chance to develop into a legitimate three-pitch starter.

“To be able to have an opportunity for him for our last pick today, we were extremely excited,” Holmes said. “I think the trend has been this year that it hasn’t been the deepest pitching market. I know that’s been written about a lot. To be able to have a chance at him at 69, we were extremely happy to have him there and extremely excited we could make it work.”