San Francisco Giants Make Shocking Decision on Fifth Starter Battle

The San Francisco Giants have decided who is going to be filling the back end of their rotation in the regular season.

Sep 27, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Landen Roupp (65) delivers a pitch against the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning at Oracle Park. / D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants have made a major and highly anticipated decision with regards to their starting rotation.

As first reported by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, Bob Melvin informed the media on Monday that 26-year-old right-hander Landen Roupp has won the battle for the fifth starter spot and 23-year-old Hayden Birdsong, while he did make the team, is going to start the season out of the bullpen.

News broke on Sunday afternoon that Birdsong had made the roster, leaving many to believe it meant the youngster had won the final spot. Largely seen as a battle between him and left-hander Kyle Harrison, struggles this spring from Harrison led to him being optioned to Triple-A.

After what was a completely dominant camp from Birdsong, it made sense to think he was going to be the one to slot in.

His young age combined with blazing velocity as well as a devastating and nasty arsenal has fans salivating over his future potential, though it seems he will have to wait at least for now to become one of the team's main starters.

As for Roupp, he quietly had a solid spring as well after making 23 appearances but just four starts in his debut 2024 season. Over four starts this spring and 12 innings pitched, Roupp pitched to a 3.75 ERA with a 0.750 WHIP and 14 strikeouts.

Birdsong on the other hand also made four appearances but started just one game, posting a 0.75 ERA and 0.500 WHIP with 18 strikeouts in 12 innings.

The likelihood of him being a starter at some point this season is extremely high both due to the inevitably of injuries and his undeniable talent, though for now it seems the team feels they are best served with both on the roster and the older Roupp in the rotation.

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