The strangeness of Sunday night wasn’t lost on Bryce Eldridge.

The San Francisco Giants’ No. 1 prospect was on the field when the club took on the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats in an exhibition game. He just thought he would be wearing a Giants jersey and not a River Cats jersey.

Even has he recovered from offseason surgery for bone spurs in his wrist. Even as he showed so much promise early in spring training. Even as he struggled with strikeouts later in camp. The goal was to be in San Francisco on Wednesday night for opening night. He may be there, but he’ll be watching from the stands.

As he told the San Francisco Giants’ Shayna Rubin (subscription required), he’s at peace with the option back to the minor leagues. He’s not happy about it, but he’s at peace with it.

Bryce Eldridge on His Spring

Bryce bomb in HD 🤩🎥 pic.twitter.com/ZZeDTK1Apc

— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) March 23, 2026

With his wrist recovery, he said he didn’t have much time to get prepared for spring training. Then, he did something that young players shouldn’t do when trying to reach a goal — he got in his own head, and it kept him from feeling good about being in the batter’s box.

“I think there were just certain things coming back from the wrist, bad habits,” Eldridge said. “I wasn’t as confident in my swing going into it. The wrist feels great, but I think coming back from it I got in my head a little bit on how I was working and moving.”

The Giants gave him plenty of room to prove he was ready for The Show. He slashed .225/.380/.450 with one home runs and six RBI. But what really stuck out was his strikeout rate. He punched out nearly half the time (19 out of 40 at-bats). It’s a strikeout rate that is unacceptable at the minor league level, much less in the majors.

He knows he needs development as a first baseman, too. Infield coach Ron Washington worked wonders with his progress in spring training. But the former two-way high school star from Vienna, Va., is still relatively new to the position.

The Triple-A bats will probably do him good. He logged 66 games at Triple-A last year. He had a great minor league season at three affiliates, as he slashed .260/.333/.510 with 25 home runs and 84 RBI. It was his second season in the minors with at least 20 home runs.

The option doesn’t endanger any of the big plays that the Giants have for the 6-foot-7 slugger. President of baseball operations Buster Posey told reporters in December that he sees the rookie as the type of bat that could play for 10 or 15 years in the Majors. That’s not progress that should be rushed. The Giants won’t rush it.

But it doesn’t mean Eldridge is content. He expects to be with the Giants soon.