Kansas City Royals v San Francisco Giants | Ezra Shaw/GettyImages
The SF Giants elevated their young pitcher Hayden Birdsong to a spot in the starting rotation. After just one start on Tuesday night against the Kansas City Royals, he already looks like he is going to be a fixture of the rotation for a long time.
In five innings of work, Birdsong allowed just one unearned run on five hits while striking out four batters and walking none. He looked mighty impressive in his first start of the season which should not come as a huge surprise.
Young SF Giants starter Hayden Birdsong looks great in first start of year
We saw Birdsong’s potential as a starter last season. In 16 starts as a rookie in 2024, he had an ERA of 4.75 which is not super impressive on its face, but we saw him have some really dominant outings where he flashed great stuff and looked as if he could be a future ace for the Giants.
He began this season in the bullpen for the Giants and he thrived while adjusting to a new role. Manager Bob Melvin used him as a secret weapon who could come out of the bullpen and give him two or more quality innings in pretty much any situation. However, it was becoming apparent that the Giants would be better served using him as a starter to maximize his value.
The struggles of Jordan Hicks as a starter made Melvin’s decision much easier. Hicks’ ERA being north of 6.00 combined with Birdsong’s dominance as a reliever made it obvious that this was the right move for the team.
It could feel like an overreaction to say Birdsong is going to be a fixture of the rotation for a long time after just one start this season, but his potential is undeniable. His fastball touches the high-90’s and he has impressive off-speed pitches to keep opposing hitters constantly guessing. He is only 23 and it stands to reason that he is only going to get better as a pitcher as he learns to refine his pitches and gains more experience pitching at the big league level.
In a perfect world, Birdsong would mature into co-ace status alongside veteran Logan Webb. That may seem like a fantasy, but Birdsong has the potential to be very good for a long time.
Let’s just hope his great start on Tuesday is the first of many to come in the 2025 season for the young Birdsong.
