San Francisco Giants Rewarded with Young Starter’s Tremendous Performance

With every performance, this San Francisco Giants starting pitcher is making the team look smarter and smarter for including him in the rotation.

Apr 19, 2025; Anaheim, California, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Landen Roupp (65) throws a pitch against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning at Angel Stadium. | Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants had a few decisions to make coming out of spring training, most notably at fifth starter in the rotation.

They had quite a few capable candidates after Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, Justin Verlander and Justin Hicks claimed the first four spots. It escaped no one’s attention that Hayden Birdsong had a great spring.

But San Francisco went with Landen Roupp and with each passing start he’s made the organization look smarter and smarter for the decision.

The right-hander started in Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels and put together perhaps his best game of the season. He struck out a career-high nine Angels and left staked to a 3-2 lead. He pitched a season-high seven innings, giving up five hits and one walk. He threw 96 pitches.

The 26-year-old from Rocky Mount, N.C., has gotten better with every start. He only threw four innings in his season debut on April 2 against the Houston Astros. But, since then, he’s gone at least five innings in each start.

With Saturday’s victory, he improved to 2-1 with a 4.80 ERA. In 22 innings he’s struck out 29 and walked eight, batters hitting .259 against him.

This start comes after last season in which he was mostly a reliever after his made his MLB debut with San Francisco. He pitched in 23 games, with four starts, and went 1-2 with a 3.58 ERA. He pitched in 50.1 innings, gave up 43 hits and 21 earned runs, along with two home runs. He struck out 47 and walked 26.

It wasn’t a certainty he would make the rotation in spring training. But he was effective as a starter, going 1-0 with a 3.75 ERA in four games. He struck out 14 and walked one in 12 innings.

Roupp was the Giants’ 12th round pick in the 2021 MLB draft out of UNC Wilmington. He spent parts of four seasons in the Giants’ minor league system, pitching in 52 games, 32 of which were starts.

He had a career record of 10-4 with a 2.50 ERA, as he gave up 48 earned runs in 172.2 innings. He struck out 250, walked 61 and batters hit .186 against him.

He’s proven effective enough to serve as a starter or as a reliever. For now, the Giants need him as their fifth starter, a position where he’s proven effective through four turns in the rotation.