SF Giants Player Review 2026: Spencer Bivens lost his role and found a new home

After Nick looked back on Victor Bericoto's rookie season with the Giants yesterday, we're going to review Spencer Bivens' very uneventful and underwhelming 2026 campaign. Bivens appeared in 54 games and pitched 81 innings for the Giants in 2025 and was the only reliever to stay on the active roster throughout the season. How much can change in a year.

Signed by San Francisco to a minor-league contract in May 2022 after going undrafted in 2018 and pitching in France and independent leagues, Bivens saw his three-season tenure with the Giants come to a disappointing end after the organization designated him for assignment in September. The Kansas City Royals claimed him off waivers and can retain him for 2027, as Bivens remains under team control and pre-arbitration eligible. He also has one minor-league option remaining.

Spencer Bivens barely saw any major-league action in 2026

Back in March, Bivens was regarded as one of the main bullpen omissions after posting a 3.48 ERA in 10 1/3 innings in spring training and being a major contributor in 2025. Instead, the Giants went with Keaton Winn and J.T. Brubaker, and Bivens never recovered from that early blow.

A month into his minor-league season, Bivens shifted from a bullpen role to the rotation after posting a 5.40 ERA in 13 1/3 innings of relief. The experiment lasted a month until the end of May, and the results were actually pretty encouraging: a 3.81 ERA in 26 innings as a starter. For comparison, in relief with the River Cats, he posted a 5.51 ERA over 49 innings out of the bullpen.

Bivens had to wait until early July to receive his first call-up. Eight days and two outings later, he was back in Sacramento. He did post an unblemished ERA over those two appearances, but gave up two unearned runs in the Giants' 10-0 shutout loss to the Blue Jays on July 8.

Fast-forward a month and a half and 10 appearances with Sacramento, and Bivens got a second opportunity after Carson Whisenhunt suffered a torn UCL that would eventually require Tommy John surgery. The Giants needed an arm capable of covering multiple innings, so they went with Bivens. This stint lasted just four days.

On a more somber note, it featured the worst bullpen collapse in franchise history: the Cincinnati disaster. His contribution to that total 9th-inning meltdown was simple. He loaded the bases before Dylan Smith surrendered the grand slam that brought the Reds within one run.

Two days after this debacle, he allowed four runs across two innings against the Diamondbacks, drove his ERA up to 14.40, and that was it for him. His tenure with San Francisco was over. A couple of weeks after optioning him back to Sacramento, the Giants designated the 32-year-old for assignment while adding Duncan Davitt through waivers. Three days later, the Royals picked up his contract and sent him to their Triple-A affiliate, the Omaha Storm Chasers.

Bivens would end up getting a couple of opportunities with the Royals, pitching 2 1/3 scoreless innings over two appearances. Now in Kansas City, Bivens will battle to earn the consistent bullpen role he once had with the Giants.

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