Hayden Birdsong's Last Start With Giants Before Demotion Was Historically Unique

Hayden Birdsong's most recent start with the San Francisco Giants was memorable for the wrong reason.

Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The 2025 MLB regular season got off to a great start for San Francisco Giants pitcher Hayden Birdsong.

After a rocky debut in 2024, in which he was strictly a starting pitcher, Birdsong had to earn his way onto the Opening Day roster in spring training.

He battled it out with Kyle Harrison and Landen Roupp for the No. 5 spot behind Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, Jordan Hicks and Justin Verlander.

It was Roupp who won the final spot in the starting rotation, but Birdsong performed well enough that he was added to the Opening Day roster as a part of the team’s bullpen.

He assumed a unique multi-inning role as a reliever, throwing more than one inning in nine out of 11 outings to begin the season.

It was something Birdsong was thriving at. He possessed the stuff to blow Major Leauge hitters away, but his control was shaky as a rookie, leading to inflated pitch counts and limiting how deep he would work into games.

He adjusted to life as a reliever, pitching 23.1 innings with 25 strikeouts and only 10 walks issued. He had a 2.31 ERA and allowed a slash line of .230/.320/.448.

His only real area of struggle was allowing home runs, surrendering four.

But, when the need arose for a starting pitcher, it was Birdsong who was elected to take the place of Hicks, who was moved to the bullpen and eventually part of the trade package to bring Rafael Devers to the team.

Hayden Birdson's last start was historic for all the wrong reasons

Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The move to the rotation proved detrimental for the young righty, whose production fell off a cliff after being shifted out of the bullpen.

Birdson has made 10 starts with a ghastly 6.17 ERA across 42.1 innings.

Control was a major issue, walking 27 batters with 43 strikeouts. He did a better job of corralling home runs, allowing only six, but he was constantly working with men on base because of self-inflicted damage.

His last start with the Giants came on July 21 and was evidently the final straw because he was demoted to Triple-A Sacramento after.

It was an incredibly disappointing outing for Birdsong, who failed to record a single out against the Atlanta Braves.

He was charged with five earned runs, issuing four walks and allowing one hit to go along with one hit batter before mercifully being lifted from the game.

It is far from the kind of performance he wanted, but is historic in its own way.

As shared by Jayson Stark of The Athletic (subscription required), there has been only one other time a stat line like that has been recorded, and it was by all-time great Nolan Ryan in his final start on Sept. 22, 1993.

Certainly, rare company for a youngster like Birdsong to keep, but not quite the list he wants to be on with the Hall of Famer.