Bryce

Eldridge

Eldridge doubled to drive in a run in the first inning, then took Sean Sullivan deep for a solo homer in the third. It was a 458-foot shot to right field. The 21-year-old slugger is up to seven homers, 24 runs scored, and 19 RBI while slashing .280/.368/.484 across 185 plate appearances.

If you’re going to have to take a day off on occasion, doing so against Chris Sale isn’t the worst idea in the world. Heliot Ramos will function as the Giants’ designated hitter in his place on Sunday while Victor Bericoto draws a start in right field and will bat eighth for the Giants.

Since delivering his walkoff grand slam against the Nationals on June 10, Eldridge had hit second in 11 of the Giants’ last 12 games and third in the other. He homered again in the first of those games, but in the last 11, he’s hit .179/.319/.282. As a result, he’s back down to sixth today. Casey Schmitt is batting second, and Jung Hoo Lee has been moved up to third. Eldridge should stay in the Giants lineup against righties after Heliot Ramos is activated from the IL, something that’s supposed to happen within the next couple of days, but he’ll probably start doing some sitting against lefties. He could cease being worthy of a roster spot in shallow leagues.

The rest of the Giants combined for one hit in the game. Eldridge’s homer came in the bottom of the ninth with the team down 5-0, but unlike Wednesday’s game against the Nationals, the Giants did not have the Cubs right where they wanted them. Eldridge has five homers in 113 plate appearances since his callup. He might keep up that pace, but it’s highly unlikely that he’ll maintain his current .316 average.

Eldridge also added a walk and a second run scored, homering for the second time in as many days. The 21-year-old first baseman/DH entered this one having hit .447/.512/.737 over his past 43 plate appearances, and Thursday’s performance will only juice those numbers. Eldridge was playing sparingly when he was first recalled from Triple-A, but he’s been in the lineup for 15 of the Giants’ past 16 contests. He’s yet to bat higher than fifth, but manager Tony Vitello will have no choice but to move him up if he continues to slug like this.

Eldridge continues to raise the question as to why the Giants took so long to make him an everyday regular. He reached three times on a hit and two walks on Tuesday before taking Orlando Ribalta deep for a solo homer in the ninth. The home run was his third of the season while hitting an excellent .300/.385/.500 with 15 runs scored and eight RBI across 104 plate appearances. The most encouraging development for the 21-year-old slugger is the 22.1 percent strikeout rate.

Eldridge gets a chance at DH to face Milwaukee lefty Robert Gasser in this one after taking a seat against emerging ace Kyle Harrison earlier in the series. The 21-year-old top prospect has shown some encouraging signs of late, hitting .409 (9-for-22) with one homer and three RBI over his last seven games.

Eldridge went 6-for-11 with a home run during a three-game series against the Rockies over the weekend. The 21-year-old predictably takes a seat against southpaw Kyle Harrison, who has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season. He figures to continue playing everyday against right-handed pitching and offers some appeal in deeper mixed leagues based on his immense power production and path to regular at-bats.

It’s kind of remarkable that Eldridge had a game like this with the Giants scoring 19 runs yet only wound up with the one RBI on his homer. However, all four of his hits came leading off an inning after Matt Chapman made an out to end the previous frame. The two times he did come up with men on turned into his outs. It was still a great day for Eldridge, who hit balls 453, 419 and 354 feet at Coors. He matched his previous season totals of one homer and four runs scored from his first 17 games.

It’s nice to see Eldridge finally getting consistent opportunities for San Francisco, but he’s off to a brutal .139 (5-for-36) start with just one homer and two RBI across 11 games since returning to the big leagues earlier this month. The 21-year-old top prospect isn’t striking out a ton, which is a positive sign, but he’s simply not making enough hard contact to matter for fantasy purposes right now. His future remains extremely bright, but it could take him a while to figure things out in the majors.