San Francisco Giants Officially Cut Ties With First Baseman

The Giants released veteran first baseman from his minor league contract on Monday, as noted on MLB.com’s transaction log. The move coincides with a promotion for top prospect Bryce Eldridge, who’s been elevated to Triple-A Sacramento. Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle was first to report Eldridge’s promotion.

He had signed a minor league deal in the offseason. Over 176 plate appearances, he batted .240 with a .352 on-base percentage and a .353 slugging mark. He showed good plate discipline with an 11.9% walk rate but struck out 25% of the time.

A left-handed hitter, Lamb has over eight years of MLB experience and holds a career line of .235/.326/.427 across nearly 2,700 plate appearances. He last appeared in the majors with the Angels in 2023, playing in 19 games.

Eldridge, a 20-year-old first baseman and the Giants’ first-round pick out of high school two years ago, had a brief stint at Triple-A late last season once the team’s lower-level affiliates had wrapped up. At that point, a major league promotion wasn’t under consideration. Now, however, that could change soon.

After missing the start of the season with a left wrist injury, Eldridge dominated Double-A pitching, slashing .280/.350/.512 over 34 games. He’s now getting a more extended look in Sacramento — unless his performance fast-tracks him to the majors.

Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey acknowledged that Eldridge could accelerate the timeline. “These decisions and conversations are always fluid,” Posey said (per The San Francisco Chronicle’s Shayna Rubin). “Bryce needs to get reps, but things can change. We’ll keep evaluating his progress.”

San Francisco has received the worst production at first base among contending teams, entering Monday with a combined .183/.291/.312 slash line at the position. They rank last in batting average and slugging, and just 21st in on-base percentage — with only the Pirates, Marlins, and White Sox posting lower OPS marks.

Much of the struggle stems from LaMonte Wade Jr., who’s slashing just .167/.275/.271 after posting OBPs over .370 in each of the last two years. His right-handed platoon partner, Casey Schmitt, hasn’t contributed significantly either. Wade is currently listed day-to-day after taking a pitch off his right hand from Stephen Kolek last night. Schmitt is in the lineup tonight against Padres right-hander Ryan Bergert.