San Francisco Giants Have ‘Zero Concerns’ About Young Hurler Moving to Bullpen

One of the biggest positional battles the San Francisco Giants had at spring training this year came on the mound.

The No. 5 spot in the rotation behind ace Logan Webb, former Cy Young Award winners Justin Verlander and Robbie Ray and Jordan Hicks was up for grabs and hotly contested throughout camp.

Taking part in the competition were Hayden Birdsong, Keaton Winn, Landen Roupp and Kyle Harrison.

Harrison, a top prospect heading into the 2024 campaign, pitched in the Major Leagues for all of last year. He more than held his own, but a drop in velocity led to his strikeouts falling off considerably compared to his minor league production.

The lack of velocity carried over into spring training, which was a concern since he was hit very hard by opponents that led to a demotion back to Triple-A.

Despite that, the team still has confidence in his future.

Joining him in the minor leagues is Keaton Winn, who is working his way back from a season-ending injury in 2024.

Making the Major League team were Roupp and Birdsong, who both dominated during Cactus League play.

However, there was only one spot available in the rotation, which was won by Roupp, who began the 2024 campaign out of the bullpen. He ended up pitching 50.1 innings, starting four games 23 games total.

That is the route Birdsong will be taking in 2025, as he is set to begin the year coming out of the bullpen after a dominant spring training.

Across 12 innings, he allowed only six hits and one earned run. He didn’t issue a walk and struck out 18 of the 43 batters that he faced.

It wasn’t enough for him to overtake Roupp in the battle for the No. 5 spot, but the performance was incredibly encouraging.

Placing him in the bullpen is certainly a risk, given his youth and future as a starting pitcher, but the team isn’t overly worried.

“They believe he can stay stretched out, and there are zero concerns about the mental aspect of going back and forth,” wrote Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area.

There is certainly a role for Birdsong, as he has easy velocity with an average of 95.8 mph with a max of 98.4 as a rookie. That should play incredibly well out of the bullpen, especially since he carries his velocity deeper into games efficiently.

"He's got the quiet confidence walking around the clubhouse, on the mound, he's got it in his interactions with his teammates," president of baseball operations Buster Posey said. "For us to have him here in the bullpen, it obviously gives us some more length in the pen along with (Spencer) Bivens. It's electric stuff that can carry you for three, four, five innings if you need to. It's a big weapon."

Control was a little bit of an issue at times for him as a rookie, but if he has turned the corner in that regard, his future is going to be incredibly bright after earning his stripes in the bullpen.

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