San Francisco Giants Have Potential Game-Changer in Their Pitching Rotation

The Giants have a few rotational spots open, and this young pitcher could be the difference maker.

Sep 12, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Hayden Birdsong (60) pitches the ball against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning at Oracle Park. / Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants have some questions to answer during Spring Training. One of thie biggest is who will round out the back end of the rotation.

Hayden Birdsong could be the pitcher to make a real difference in the rotation for San Francisco.

Birdsong was taken in the sixth round of the 2022 draft out of Eastern Illinois University. The right-handed pitcher spent just one full season in the minor leagues before the Giants decided he was ready to make his debut.

In his 16 starts during 2024, the Illinois native went 5-6 with a 4.75 ERA. He threw 72.0 innings, allowed just 57 hits and he had a K/9 of 11.00. Birdsong clearly has the swing-and-miss stuff on the mound as he finished with a high strikeout rate and he was in the 82nd percentile in whiff rate.

The lengthy righty throws the ball hard and his offspeed is a very good mix of curveball, slider and changeup. During his rookie campaign, hitters had a .145 batting average off his curveball while his slider had a whiff rate of 48.7%. His changeup is also a pitch that can become nasty.

Hayden Birdsong, Dirty 88mph Changeup. 👌 pic.twitter.com/m2eIjRV0rz

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 13, 2024

The one knock on the right-hander is his command. He walked 43 batters in his time in the bigs last year, which put him in just the first percentile in the MLB in walk rate. Along with that, he did not get a lot of hitters to chase out of the zone and his hard-hit rate was 50.0%. Even with these struggles, Birdsong still has a very high upside.

The top three spots in the Giants rotation are taken. Justin Verlander will slide in place of the Blake Snell departure while Robbie Ray is expected to have a healthy season. Logan Webb will be the ace of the staff once again, as well. Kyle Harrison is also a player to watch for the fourth starting spot.

That spot should be Birdsong's to lose in Spring Training. He will have to compete with Jordan Hicks. However, Hicks is due for a role change back to the bullpen this upcoming season. Additionally, the Giants did not improve their starting staff this offseason, which means the improvement has to come from within the organization.

San Francisco is not expected to have a great season, but there is a lot of upside to their team. If Birdsong just fixes his control issues, he has the potential to be a real difference-maker on the mound.

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