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Hayden Birdsong always considered himself a starting pitcher, period, even as he spent the season’s first seven weeks in the Giants’ bullpen, compiling solid outing after solid outing and waiting for his opportunity.
With the early-season struggles of Jordan Hicks, the 23-year-old Birdsong got his chance Tuesday night and showed why he and the Giants anticipate he’ll experience an extended stay in the rotation.
The Giants beat the Royals 3-2, and Birdsong earned the win. He misfired a few times, but mostly was aggressive in the strike zone, walking none of his 19 batters over five innings. The only run he surrendered was unearned, courtesy of his own defensive miscues.
“I woke up this morning, and I was like, I’ve got to start today,“ Birdsong said. “It wasn’t like, OK, I’m just going to the field and maybe I throw. I was excited. I was comfortable once I got out there. After the first inning, it was like, OK, this is what I need to do.”
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It was an encouraging night along the shores of McCovey Cove, and not just because fans now know Birdsong has an opportunity to flourish every fifth day. The Giants became further convinced they have a more dynamic rotation, which has produced a remarkable 0.90 ERA in its past five starts.
“Not a surprise he handled it well,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We feel like he’s going to be a starter for the Giants for a long time.”
“I plan on it,” Birdsong said. “I’ll do what the team needs, but I’m planning on starting.”
Birdsong was just the Giants’ sixth pitcher to start a game this season, leaving the Angels as the only team to stick with the same five-man rotation, which speaks volumes for Buster Posey’s desire for roster stability. Speaking of the president of baseball operations, his pitching-and-defense mantra was also showcased before a crowd of 32,118.
Left fielder Heliot Ramos robbed Salvador Perez with a diving catch of a sinking liner, and catcher Patrick Bailey threw out two runners trying to steal, including Bobby Witt Jr., one of the majors’ premier runners.
After Birdsong gave way to the majors’ top-ranked bullpen (2.63 ERA), four relievers closed it out. The offense did just enough, Willy Adames tripled in a run and scored on Casey Schmitt’s single in the fourth and Jung Hoo Lee added an RBI single in the fifth.
The featured storyline was Birdsong, who showed off all four of his pitches, including a fastball that touched 98.4 mph, and a curve he mixed in more than he had as a reliever to complement his slider and changeup.
“I’m always rooting for him. His stuff is looking great,” said lefty Kyle Harrison, also 23, who pitched 1 ⅓ innings as a setup man and is earmarked to eventually join Birdsong in the Giants’ rotation of the future.
Harrison said he has felt comfortable in his four relief appearances since his May 6 promotion from Triple-A Sacramento, where he opened the season after he and Birdsong lost the duel for the No. 5 rotation spot to Landen Roupp.
“I know what I am at the end of the day. I know I’m a starter,” Harrison said. “I’m going to go out there and pitch whatever they want me to do right now. That’s the way we’re looking at it.”
Birdsong started the evening with a fastball high in the zone for a called strike on Jonathan India, who eventually flied out. The next batter, Witt, saw three different pitches right away, fastball, slider, changeup, and swung through a fastball for strike three.
After throwing 16 pitches in the first inning, Birdsong needed 19 in the second including a nine-pitch at-bat vs. Michael Massey that ended with a strikeout on a changeup. Bailey moved the inning along with a splendid one-hop throw to Adames, who tagged out Maikel Garcia, an outcome that was missed by umpire Stu Scheurwater but confirmed in a replay review.
The third inning wasn’t as smooth. Birdsong spiked pitches and threw a high one to the backstop and giftwrapped the Royals a run – Drew Waters opened with a single, advanced to second on Birdsong’s errant pickoff throw, took third on his wild pitch, and scored on a sacrifice fly.
“I’m happy about it,” Birdsong said of his overall performance. “I’m not happy about throwing a ball away at first.”
Despite all that, Birdsong was at 49 pitches through three innings and 63 through four, plenty efficient to reach his limit of 75 to 80. Sure enough, he got to exactly 80 after five and was pulled.
Melvin said Birdsong potentially could hit 85 to 90 pitches his next start.