Buster Posey needs to be on the phone right now after nightmare SF Giants start

Starting pitching is a clear need for the SF Giants ahead of the trade deadline. That is even more clear after Hayden Birdsong failed to make it out of the first inning in Monday night's start against the Atlanta Braves.

Birdsong was simply atrocious. He walked the first three batters of the game and then gave up a bases-clearing double to make the score 3-1. Then he walked the next batter before hitting the next batter. He did not record a single out. That is what will go down as a "Yikes" in the scorebook.

After this outing as well as the struggles of Justin Verlander, president of baseball operations Buster Posey needs to be on the phone with other front offices right now to try and make a deal for a starting pitcher because the Giants need one badly.

SF Giants starting pitching need is acutely obvious after disastrous Birdsong start

This is not the first time Birdsong has struggled this season. He has been struggling pretty much ever since he joined the rotation after his strong start to the season in the bullpen.

It seems the transition to the rotation has just not been smooth at all. He has been confused by his struggles, but it is clear his mechanics are out of whack or something is just off because his command has not been good at all as of late. We know his raw stuff can play in the big leagues, but if he cannot throw strikes it doesn't matter.

The Giants really need to make a move. There are pitchers out there who would be a good fit for San Francisco and would provide some much-needed stability to a rotation that has been inconsistent outside of Logan Webb and Robbie Ray.

Pitching needs to be the team's strength considering how lackluster their offense has been for much of the year. There are some internal options the Giants could try out to try and address their rotation issues, but none of those options seems like an obvious upgrade.

That is why Posey needs to be aggressive ahead of the July 31st trade deadline. We saw how aggressive he was in upgrading the lineup with the Rafael Devers trade, but he needs to be just as ambitious to upgrade the rotation.

Posey has already had plenty of evidence that this is an area of need, but Birdsong's nightmare start on Monday should really give him more impetus to get a deal done.