Three D.C.-area baseball prospects — James Madison High School’s Bryce Eldridge, Westfield High School’s Jonny Farmelo and University of Maryland’s Matt Shaw — were selected in the first round of the 2023 MLB Draft.
Eldridge, who previously committed to the University of Alabama, was selected by the San Francisco Giants with the 16th overall pick. The strong two-way player shared with WTOP that playing in the major leagues was a dream of his.
“It’s surreal; I still can’t put it into words and the emotions,” Eldridge told WTOP.
Eldridge said he knew the Giants were interested in him, but he didn’t know how much until he heard his name called. Eldridge who has been called the next Shohei Ohtani said he is ready to handle being a two-way player for the organization.
“This is just the beginning and hopefully looking forward to get up to … the big leagues here in the next couple of years,” Eldridge said.
Since the announcement, he said many of his friends and family have also been reaching out to congratulate him.
“They’re all fired up! A few of my friends were getting emotional; my family is getting emotional,” said Eldridge.
Eldridge also confirmed that he will not take the offer to play college baseball for Alabama, after being selected by the Giants. He said now things will move fast, and he’ll be in Arizona training, soon.
Before the draft, Eldridge said that if he were selected, he planned to take his family out to a nice dinner. Being such an early pick, he was asked how nice of a dinner his family can expect.
“A nice steakhouse. We’ll get some steaks,” he said.
In a release, Major League Baseball has dubbed Eldridge as a player who brings options to his new team.
“As with most two-way prospects, there will be debate about whether Eldridge’s future lies on the mound or in the batter’s box,” the league said, adding that Eldridge is likely to “reward teams no matter how they choose to deploy him.”
But he wasn’t the only one celebrating success Sunday evening. Farmelo, who previously committed to the University of Virginia, was picked 29th overall by the Seattle Mariners.
Both Farmelo and Eldridge will make a decision between signing with the pros right out of high school or keeping their offer to play college baseball through the coming semester.
On the other hand, University of Maryland’s Shaw was picked 13th overall by the Chicago Cubs.
The Brimfield, Massachusetts, native was the highest draft pick in program history, surpassing John Hetrick, who was the 17th pick by the Detroit Tigers in 1967.
