Three Takeaways from Giants Spring Training Opening Victory over Mariners

The San Francisco Giants started their spring training exhibition game schedule against the Seattle Mariners on Saturday. Here are three takeaways from the game.

San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello. | Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants found themselves down five runs after the first inning but rallied to beat the Seattle Mariners, 10-5, in their spring training opener on Saturday afternoon in Peoria Ariz.

The Giants (1-0) ended up putting together an offensive showcase, with Harrison Bader leading the way with two hits. San Francisco is counting on production from Bryce Eldridge, and he went 1-for-1 with an RBI. Shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald went 1-for-3 and drove in two runs.

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Here are three takeaways from the game.

Hayden Birdsong Blown Up

The Giants gave their young right-hander the ball for the first spring training game and the Mariners got to him immediately. He only recorded one out.

He allowed three hits and five runs, along with two walks, as he threw 26 pitches, only 14 of which were strikes. He gave up a grand slam to Mariners slugger Miles Mastrobuoni, which essentially ended his outing.

Spring training isn’t always about results. One can’t make the team with one outing. But Birdsong’s short, ineffective outing might have put the onus on him to bounce back in a big way in his next outing or risk ending up in Triple-A to start the season.

Some Early Bryce Eldridge Pop

San Francisco Giants designated hitter Bryce Eldridge. | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

San Francisco received plenty of overtures from other teams about trading for Bryce Eldridge, their No. 1 prospect. In the background it appeared president of baseball operations Buster Posey was asking for a king’s ransom to trade away a player that he believes can be a Major League slugger for the next 10 to 15 years.

Eldridge was at spring training last year, but an injury took him out of the mix before he even played a spring game. So, Saturday was his first bow at a spring game in Arizona.

Eldridge started the game by being hit by a pitch in the second inning, an act that kicked off a four-run second frame for San Francisco. He came back and doubled in the third inning and scored Heliot Ramos.

The Giants want run production from him. The plan is for him to switch off with Rafael Devers at first base and designated hitter. For that to work, he must show the consistent ability to that this spring.

The Susac Success

The ABS system is making its debut in regular season games this year, so teams are getting acclimated to the process of challenging balls and strikes during spring training games. Several ballparks had the technology last year and players and managers were able to experiment with the technology.

But now the stakes are higher. They know they'll be able to use the system in regular season games which means teams are being strategic about how they experiment with how to use it.

So, Giants catcher Daniel Susac executed the Giants’ first challenge of spring training. It was a success.

Catcher Daniel Susac became the first Giant to use ABS and absolutely nailed it. A very close call got changed from a ball to a strike: pic.twitter.com/bIMVVIgz0a

— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) February 21, 2026

There will be many more to come.

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