San Francisco Giants Hottest Prospect Selected for Arizona Fall League

Last year’s first-round pick has rocketed up the San Francisco Giants’ system and now he’s headed for the AFL.

Jul 26, 2023; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants 2023 first-round pick Bryce Eldridge before the game against the Oakland Athletics at Oracle Park. / Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

Bryce Eldridge has become one of the most talked-about prospects in minor league baseball and now last year's first round pick will represent the San Francisco Giants in the Arizona Fall League, which starts next month.

Eldridge was one of eight Giants prospects selected to play and he will certainly be the one that draws the most attention once the league begins next week.

He is the Giants’ No. 1 prospect and the No. 50 prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline. The other Giants Top 30 prospect selected to play was outfielder Bo Davidson (No. 26).

The other San Francisco prospects were right-handed pitchers Marques Johnson, William Kempner, Cale Lansville, Elijah Pleasants and Tyler Vogel, along with third baseman Charlie Szykowny.

Eldridge was promoted to Triple-A Sacramento for the final week of the season after starting the year at Class-A San Jose. He is also a nominee for hitter of the year in the MiLB Awards, which will be announced next week.

He finished his first full pro season with a slash line of .289/.372/.513/.885 with 23 home runs and 91 RBI.

Eldridge also represented the Giants at the MLB Futures Game earlier this year.

After the Giants drafted him No. 16 overall last year he signed for $4 million and opted not to play baseball at Alabama. Instead, he reported to the Giants and played 31 games with the Arizona Complex League Giants and the Class-A San Jose Giants. He batted a combined .294/.400/.505/.905 with six home runs and 18 RBI.

He was drafted with the potential of being a two-way player, as he also pitched in high school. But, before this season he opted to focus on trying to make the Majors specifically at first base.

San Francisco will play with the Scottsdale Scorpions in Scottsdale, Ariz.. The Giants prospects will play alongside prospects from the Toronto Blue Jays, the New York Mets, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Detroit Tigers.

The other five teams in the AFL play in Glendale, Mesa, Peoria, Salt River and Surprise.

AFL action starts on Oct. 7 and since it was founded in 1992 more than 3,000 players have participated and moved on to the Majors at some point.

During the season, there are several special events, including a tripleheader at Goodyear Ballpark on Oct. 19, a game at Grand Canyon University on Oct. 25 and a doubleheader at American Family Fields of Phoenix on Oct. 26.

The Fall Stars game is set for Nov. 9 at Sloan Park, with the annual home run derby set for Nov. 8.

When the season concludes on Nov. 14, there will be a play-in semifinal game between the second- and third-place finishers in the standings on Nov. 15 at Scottsdale Stadium. The championship game is held the next day at Salt River Fields.