San Francisco Giants pitcher Hayden Birdsong is looking for positives out of his first Spring Training start on Saturday.
Birdsong didn’t have as clean an outing as he’d hoped for against the Seattle Mariners. But the Giants managed to turn around and beat the Mariners 10-5 in a Cactus Leage showdown.
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Giants manager Tony Vitello has been keeping his eye on Birdsong, especially after looking at some videos of Birdsong’s work for the team in the 2025 MLB season.
At this point, Vitello isn’t too concerned about Birdsong at this point in Spring Training. He knows what Birdsong can bring to the table, so to speak.
“The difference, to me, is he kind of has that presence that you like from last year’s video,” Vitello said in an interview with Giants beat reporter Maria Guardado of MLB.com.
“Because there was a little bit of a difference at times, just kind of how he looked and how he felt,” Vitello said. “It’s to be expected for a younger guy. You’re trying to find your personality in the big-league uniform.
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“I think his personality in college and then in Minor League ball was always having success,” Vitello said. “But at some point, you get punched in the mouth, and you’ve got to find that consistent image.”
In Saturday’s outing, Birdsong just pitched to six Mariners. He allowed two hits, walked two, and gave up a grand slam to Seattle’s Miles Mastrobuoni. The Mariners took an early 5-0 lead, but that was all the offense Seattle would muster against San Francisco.
In Birdsong’s 26 pitches in the outing, 14 were strikes.
He did have a lively fastball which hit 98.1 MPH on the gun. That pleased Birdsong when asked about his outing.
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“There was one win in there: My fastball was in the zone,” Birdsong said. “I’m not upset, but I’m not happy.”
Birdsong looked good coming out of the bullpen last season, but just didn’t have it together when getting put back into the Giants’ starting rotation. In fact, Birdsong was so bad that the Giants sent him down to Triple-A. He stayed there for the rest of the 2025 MLB season’s second half.
One pitch that Birdsong has been working on to improve is his slider/cutter. While he had lost some faith in that pitch, Guardado reported that new Giants assistant pitching coach Christian Wonders asked him to keep on working on it.
“I tried to bang it, and then Christian and them came in and said, ‘Let’s work on it, because I think it will help you out,’” Birdsong said. “I’m in on it. I’ll listen to whatever. I like it. I like the idea of it. I like a pitch that goes that way. We’ll find it. Hopefully it’s really good.”
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At this point, earning a spot on the Giants this season means the world to Birdsong. He also is aware enough, though, to know that he might end up starting the season at Triple-A Sacramento if that’s the decision of Vitello and the ballclub.
“Obviously, I’m trying to win a job,” Birdsong told Guardado. “I want to throw all of my pitches and try to punch people out and not walk people and whatever. At the same time, I’m working toward the end goal of things. Making the team would be awesome. That’d be great.”
Giants fans would be wise to keep an eye on Birdsong and his progress during Cactus League play. Let’s see if the youngster can nail down a roster spot before the regular season begins.
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