Bryce Edward Eldridge (born October 20, 2004) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the major ...

in the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

organization.

Amateur career

Eldridge lives in

Vienna, Virginia Vienna () is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Vienna has a population of 16,473. Significantly more people live in ZIP codes with the Vienna postal addresses (22180, 22181, and 22182), bordered appr ...

and attended James Madison High School. He played for the United States national under-18 team in the

2022 U-18 Baseball World Cup The 2021 U-18 Baseball World Cup or the XXIX U-18 Baseball World Cup is an international baseball tournament held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation for players 18-year-old and younger held in Bradenton and Sarasota, Florida, USA. The ev ...

and was named the tournament's MVP after batting .316 with three home runs and 13 RBI. He also won USA Baseball's Richard W. "Dick" Case Award. In 2023, Eldridge was named the Virginia

Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' cross country, boys' football, boys' a ...

after going 11–0 with a 1.30 ERA and 88 strikeouts over innings pitched and batting .422 with nine home runs and 23 RBIs. He committed to play college baseball at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

Professional career

Eldridge was chosen with the 16th pick of the first round in the

2023 Major League Baseball draft The 2023 Major League Baseball draft took place on July 9–11, 2023, in Seattle. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. For the first time, a draft lottery was used to set a portion of the draft order. The first six selections ...

. He was considered a top prospect and the draft's best

two-way Two-way or Two Way may refer to: * "2-Way", single by rapper Lil' Romeo * Two-way, Cincinnati chili topped on spaghetti * Two Way (KT Tunstall and James Bay duet), "Two Way" (KT Tunstall and James Bay duet), 2016 See also

* * * * 3-Way (disa ...

prospect. He signed with the Giants on July 17, 2023 for an under-slot deal of $4 million. He spent his first professional season with the rookie-level

Arizona Complex League Giants The Arizona Complex League Giants are a professional baseball team competing as a Rookie-level affiliate of the San Francisco Giants in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Scottsdale Stadium in Sc ...

and Single-A

San Jose Giants The San Jose Giants are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Located in San Jose, California, the Giants play their home games at Excite Ballpark. Games San Jose Giants g ...

. In 31 total games, Eldridge hit .294/.400/.505 with 6 home runs and 18 RBI. Prior to the 2024 season, Eldridge announced that he would be a first baseman and stop pitching. Late in the season, he was promoted to the Double-A

Richmond Flying Squirrels The Richmond Flying Squirrels are a Minor League Baseball team based in Richmond, Virginia. The team, which is a part of the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants major league club, and plays at The Diamond. Th ...

. Across minor league levels ranging from Class A to Triple-A, Eldridge hit .292 with 23 home runs in 116 games. After the season, he played for the

Scottsdale Scorpions The Scottsdale Scorpions are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Scottsdale, Arizona, at Scottsdale Stadium, which is also the spring training facility of the San Francisco G ...

in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fi ...

. Eldridge entered 2025 as a top prospect but began the season on the Double-A

injured list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

with a wrist injury.

Personal life

Eldridge is the grandson of

Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame Induction to the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, called the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor from its creation in 1991 through 2006, is managed by the International Bluegrass Music Association, and the Hall itself is mainta ...

Ben Eldridge Ben Eldridge, (born August 15, 1938) is a five-string banjo player and a founding member of the seminal bluegrass group The Seldom Scene. He also works as a mathematician. Biography Ben Eldridge was born in Richmond, Virginia. He began playing th ...

, banjoist of the

Seldom Scene The Seldom Scene is an American bluegrass band that formed in 1971 in Bethesda, Maryland. The band's original line-up comprised John Starling on lead vocals and guitar, Mike Auldridge on Dobro and baritone vocals, Ben Eldridge on banjo, Tom G ...

, and the nephew of

Chris Eldridge Chris Eldridge is an American guitarist and singer. He is a member of Punch Brothers and frequently performs in a duo with fellow guitarist Julian Lage. He is also the guitarist in the house band on Live From Here. He was a founding member of th ...

Punch Brothers Punch Brothers is an American band consisting of Chris Thile (mandolin), Gabe Witcher (fiddle/violin), Noam Pikelny (banjo), Chris Eldridge (guitar), and Paul Kowert (bass). Their style has been described as "bluegrass instrumentation and spon ...

References

External links

Living people 2004 births Arizona Complex League Giants players Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Virginia Eugene Emeralds players Richmond Flying Squirrels players Sacramento River Cats players San Jose Giants players 21st-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-bio-stub