Bryce Eldridge details memorable interactions with Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper

SCOTTSDALE — When the Giants pursued Bryce Harper seven years ago, he dug deep into their farm system, asking team officials detailed questions about players he might one day be welcoming to the big leagues. Bryce Eldridge was in middle school at the time, and he was doing his own calculations. A native of Virginia, he was hopeful that he could reach the big leagues in time to play with or against Harper, who was a star for the Washington Nationals while Eldridge was falling for the game. Harper, of course, chose the Philadelphia Phillies. The Giants ended up getting their own Bryce in the draft a few years later, and on Tuesday they shared a field for the first time. It was an experience the younger Bryce will never forget. “It was awesome. I got to meet him when he was standing behind the turtle over here in BP and basically just told him he was the reason I love playing baseball,” Eldridge said after an exhibition at Scottsdale Stadium. “He’s the person I mimicked growing up, and he was my idol. I think he appreciated that.”Harper and Eldridge spent a few minutes together before the Giants’ scrimmage against Team USA. There was a lot that Eldridge will cherish from their discussion, including the fact that he didn’t actually have to introduce himself. “He knew who I was,” Eldridge said. “That’s enough for me.”Harper said after the game that he likes Eldridge’s swing and noted that he’s put up “pretty good numbers and pretty good years in the minors.” While Eldridge went hitless in three at-bats, he had one of the better swings for the Giants in a 15-1 loss to a team that manager Tony Vitello compared to the Avengers. Eldridge faced reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes in his first at-bat and fell behind 0-2. He didn’t flinch on a good changeup below the zone and worked it to 2-2 before crushing a fastball to dead center. The ball left the bat at 112 mph and went 396 feet, but Byron Buxton chased it down.“Obviously he has great stuff, and he kind of fooled me on one pitch and threw me a pretty good changeup, but I was able to reset and earn another good pitch over the zone,” Eldridge said. “I probably should have hit it anywhere else on the field other than to Byron Buxton, but that’s been my luck.”In the box score, the day did not stick out for the 21-year-old, who also committed an error at first. But he showed how far he has come defensively, starting a 3-6-3 double play and also making a diving stop to rob speedy Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. of a hit. Bryce with a great play at first &zwj; pic.twitter.com/QBa2OIoNpv — SFGiants (&commat;SFGiants) March 3, 2026 “The two plays he made, I don’t know that he makes those earlier in the camp, much less last year,” Vitello said. “The progress is there.”Eldridge is playing further from the bag this spring, the product of improved footwork, but he wasn’t in the mood to talk too much about his glovework. He noted that the error on a pretty routine grounder was “frustrating.”The rest of his day, though, was filled with reasons to smile. He said he has normalized being around big leaguers in the Giants clubhouse, but seeing so many stars on the other side was a new experience. Eldridge tried to soak it all in, and because he played first base for eight innings on a day when Team USA had 27 baserunners, he got to introduce himself to some of the game’s best.Another highlight came in the first when Aaron Judge hit a two-run single. All of a sudden, the 6-foot-7 Eldridge found himself standing next to the 6-foot-7 Judge. When he got back to the dugout, he had a question for teammates.“Who was taller?” he said, smiling. Eldridge said that’s easily the tallest person he has ever stood next to at first base. While his teammates insisted Judge had the edge, there was plenty of discussion about whether that might have just been because the American League MVP was wearing a helmet and Eldridge was not. The Giants’ first baseman thought it was dead even. “Now I know how people feel when I stand next to them,” he said. For the most part, even for the Giants who found the exhibition to be filled with jaw-dropping moments, this was not a day for photos and autographs. But Eldridge still came away with something pretty memorable after spending a few minutes holding Judge on first base.The Giants’ top prospect played for Team USA’s under-18 team in 2022 and is hopeful that he’ll be in the mix for the next WBC and also the 2028 Olympics if MLB players are allowed to participate. Harper and Judge are both 33 years old and could be on the roster again in a few years. “Judge had a conversation with me,” Eldridge said. “He said, ‘We hope to see you here on the next go-around.”Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

Bryce Eldridge details memorable interactions with Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper

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