San Francisco Giants Youngsters Crash Latest Top 100 Prospect Rankings

Having gone much of the season without a Top 100 prospect, three San Francisco Giants have moved up the latest rankings.

Jul 27, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Hayden Birdsong (60) delivers a pitch against the Colorado Rockies during the second inning at Oracle Park. / D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports

Tuesday was a good day to be in charge of the San Francisco Giants’ farm system.

After spending most of the season without a Top 100 prospect in either major system ratings, the Giants ended up with three Top 100 prospects as MLB Pipeline announced its updated rankings.

The new rankings took into account player progress, the MLB draft, trades and other considerations.

The Giants managed a new prospect on three different pathways.

Future first baseman Bryce Eldridge was the top ranked Giants prospect at No. 54. He slid into the Top 100 just before the re-rank thanks to other player movement across baseball. But in this true re-rank he moved up 42 spots, which was tied for the third-highest jump with Oakland shortstop Jacob Wilson.

Eldridge returned to the minors last month after a trip to the MLB Futures Game, where he represented the Giants with the National League team. The Giants took him No. 16 overall last year out of high school and he signed for $4 million. He reached Class-A San Jose last year, as he batted a combined .294/.400/.505/.905 with six home runs and 18 RBI.

Now with High-A Eugene, he’s hoping to get to Double-A by the end of the season.

Pitcher Hayden Birdsong moved into the Top 100, even though he’s in the Majors right now with the Giants. He hasn’t racked up the service time needed to graduate.

He appears poised to remain with the Giants the rest of the season, as they moved veteran Alex Cobb at the deadline to Cleveland and promoted Birdsong again shortly after.

Birdsong was originally called up in June and pitched in five games before he was optioned back to Sacramento. He was 2-0 with a 3.55 ERA in five starts, with 30 strikeouts and 12 walks in 25.1 innings. He made his last start with the Giants on Sunday against the Detroit Tigers.

He was ranked No. 88 in the Top 100.

The last Top 100 Giants prospect was a new one to the organization — outfielder James Tibbs III at No. 99. He was drafted in the first round by the Giants in July and was assigned to Class A San Jose.

The left-handed hitting Tibbs was a three-year star for the Florida State Seminoles and he entered the College World Series with the best stat line of his career. He slashed .375/.497/.813/1.310 with 28 home runs and 94 RBI.

Baseball America rated Tibbs No. 3 among the players participating in this year’s CWS, behind only Texas A&M’s Braden Montgomery and Florida’s Jac Caglianone. Both were selected ahead of Tibbs.