San Francisco Giants Young Arm Shows Blazing Velocity In Spring Training Debut

The San Francisco Giants got off to a 2-0 start in the Cactus League over the weekend with victories over both the Texas Rangers and the Cincinnati Reds.

Of course it's nice to win ball games, but ultimately performances of individual players during exhibition games will always be more notable than the result. During the win over the Reds on Sunday, two prominent Giants pitchers made their spring debuts and both went very well.

The unquestioned ace of the rotation performed exactly as one would hope with Logan Webb tossing two hitless innings, but it's the battle for spots at the back end of the rotation where some real headlines were made.

Young right-handed pitcher Hayden Birdsong gave up two hits and a run in his two innings, striking out three. But it was the velocity on the 23-year-old which stood out, topping out at 98.8 mph which was faster than his hardest-thrown pitch throughout the entire 2024 regular season.

"To throw hard, you've got to throw hard," Birdsong said via NBC Sports Bay Area on Sunday after the debut. "I felt good. I wasn't expecting it to be as hard as it was. It was coming out good. I can't complain."

Birdsong's rookie season was far from perfect over 16 starts and inconsistency is likely the main reason he's in a battle for the final spot in the rotation rather than it being an assumption he will be the guy. Over 72 innings pitched, the righty pitched to a 4.75 ERA with 88 strikeouts and a 1.389 WHIP.

His season ended with a bang as well and displayed the immense potential when he struck out 11 hitters in just 4.1 innings to close out the year.

The powerful youngster boasts a high ceiling if he's able to harness his flamethrower of an arm and nasty arsenal.

Unless San Francisco plans on going with a six-man rotation, it's likely going to come down to Birdsong and another fellow 23-year-old in left-hander Kyle Harrison. The lefty made 24 starts in 2024 and put up similar numbers as Birdsong, but does not strikeout hitters at nearly the same rate nor have the velocity his right-handed counterpart does.

The nod could wind up going to Harrison largely because of the heavy dose of right-handed pitching already in the rotation and the allure of balancing things out with another lefty in the back end, but Birdsong is looking to have his say in that discussion.

If Birdsong can demonstrate throughout the remainder of the spring he is ready to take the major leap from his first season to his second, the upside may be too high to pass on for a Giants team in desperate need of big-time pitching performances.

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