SF Giants manager Bob Melvin may have just unlocked a super-reliever

The SF Giants needed starting pitcher Robbie Ray to eat up innings in his start against the Seattle Mariners on Saturday. He did just that, and Hayden Birdsong came in and pitched great in relief which may give manager Bob Melvin a fun new toy.

San Francisco needed Ray and Birdsong to have those outings after the team burned through eight pitchers in their 11-inning win on Friday in the team's home opener. Melvin did not want to have to burn through his bullpen like that again, so Ray came through with six strong innings.

Prior to Saturday's game, Melvin talked about how the team may be forced to use Birdsong as more of a traditional reliever going forward, meaning they will just use him for one inning coming out of the bullpen. Keep in mind, the 23-year-old is accustomed to being a starter and all 16 of his appearances last season came as a starter.

SF Giants may have unlocked a new weapon with Hayden Birdsong

Birdsong's only other appearance in 2025 came in relief in Houston. He pitched two scoreless innings in that game and proceeded to do the same thing against Seattle. He pitched through some traffic on Saturday, giving up two singles in the 7th before getting bailed out thanks to a great double play by second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald.

Then, Melvin showed a good deal of confidence in Birdsong by leaving him in to pitch the 8th inning against the heart of the order. Birdsong struck out both Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh and, after walking Randy Arozarena, induced a fly ball from Mitch Garver to get out of the inning.

The fact that Birdsong has looked good coming out of the bullpen so far is what could lead to Melvin using him as a "super-reliever." Imagine if Melvin did have a reliable weapon like Birdsong in his back pocket who could come in and give him two or three strong innings of relief late in a game while giving some of his other high-leverage arms a rest.

Saturday's game was a good blueprint for that strategy. Birdsong has the stuff to be an electric late-inning arm with a fastball that regularly reaches the high-90's and he also has a nasty changeup and breaking ball to pair with it. He is also used to pitching multiple innings so Melvin can rely on him to get six or more outs if needed which is an advantage over other relievers.

It is still early in the season and this was just one outing, but it is hard not to get excited about the prospect of Birdsong being a late-inning weapon for Melvin. It will be interesting to see how the skipper decides to use him going forward after Saturday's impressive performance.