Giants Starter Weighing Options After Sobering Diagnosis of Forearm Injury

San Francisco Giants pitcher Hayden Birdsong has a diagnosis for his forearm injury. It’s not the best news.

Per multiple outlets, including Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, Birdsong has a grade 2 forearm strain/UCL sprain. For now, he’s weighing his options. But it’s clear he won’t pitch for a while.

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Per Pavlovic, Birdsong will fly to Dallas to meet with Dr. Keith Meister next week. Along with being the Texas Rangers’ team surgeon, he is one of sports medicine’s foremost surgeons when it comes to Tommy John surgery, which could be an option for Birdsong. Dr. Meister also helped develop an internal brace procedure for these injuries that reduces recovery time. Birdsong could also opt for rest to see if the strain responds to other treatment.

If he must go the surgical route, his 2026 season is likely done. Most Tommy John or internal brace surgeries require at least a year of recovery for pitchers.

Giants Hoping for Best

San Francisco manager Tony Vitello acknowledged the gravity of the diagnosis.

"It's certainly not best-case scenario, but hopefully we get best-case scenario of the unfortunate circumstances," he said.

On Tuesday Birdsong pitched his best of the spring, as he threw a scoreless inning, allowing one hit and striking out one batter. He threw 21 pitches, 15 of which were strikes. But he also felt discomfort after a pitch and that led to medical testing and the diagnosis.

Before that, his spring numbers were a mess. Combined, he pitched in three games with one start and has a 30.86 ERA. He's allowed eight hits and eight earned runs in 2.1 innings, with two strikeouts and three walks.

It’s a blow for Birdsong and for the Giants, who were looking at him as a potential long-relief option and back-up starter as the competition for the rotation has solidified.

San Francisco selected him in the sixth round of the 2022 MLB draft out of Eastern Illinois. Less than two years after that, he made his Major League debut.

He showed plenty of promise in that debut season, as he went 5-6 with a 4.75 ERA in 16 starts. He struck out 88, walked 43 and allowed 57 hits in 72 innings. Notably, batters hit just .216 against them.

He made the opening day roster in 2025, but he was optioned back to Triple-A Sacramento in July. In 21 games, 10 of which were starts, Birdsong went 4-4 with a 4.80 ERA. He struck out 68 and walked 37 and 65.2 innings. As a reliever he recorded three holds. But against all hitters, his opponent batting average went up to .242.