What Landen Roupp as fifth starter means for SF Giants pitching staff

After a tough battle for the fifth and final spot in the SF Giants starting rotation, Landen Roupp has emerged victorious. While this matter is now settled, what does it mean for the rest of the pitching staff going into the season?

Roupp edged out Hayden Birdsong for the No. 5 spot in the rotation. Birdsong will still be on the roster, but he will start the season in the bullpen. Roupp finished spring training better than Birdsong, throwing five innings while only allowing one earned run against the Sacramento River Cats on Sunday while Birdsong gave up three earned runs while only recording one out.

Landen Roupp edges out Hayden Birdsong for final SF Giants rotation spot

What should we make of this?

For one, it is encouraging that both Roupp and Birdsong pitched so well in spring training. Either option was a good one and it really came down to Roupp looking more ready to start the season in the rotation.

However, we should not assume that Roupp will remain in the rotation the entire year. One hopes he can take this spot in the rotation and run with it, but it seems more likely that the Giants are going to cycle through their younger rotation arms as the season goes on.

Kyle Harrison is going to begin the season in Triple-A, but once he is able to build up his arm strength a little more and if he is able to increase his velocity then it would not be a surprise at all to see him with the big league club.

Birdsong also has incredible stuff and showed a lot of progress in spring training by limiting the walks so he is surely going to start some games for the Giants this season.

It is also important to remember that the Giants have veteran starters with a history of injury issues in Justin Verlander and Robbie Ray, so if they spend any time on the IL then the Giants have Triple-A depth to call upon.

What will be most interesting with Roupp in the rotation will be to see how Birdsong fares in the bullpen. The young righty started every game he appeared in last season, so coming out of the bullpen may be a bit foreign for him.

We will have to see if manager Bob Melvin elects to use him solely as a long relief man or if he decides to use him in higher leverage spots as well. Birdsong's fastball regularly reaches the high 90's velocity-wise, so he could be an effective arm in high leverage spots.

It is going to be fascinating to see how this rotation plays out this season. Logan Webb, Justin Verlander, and Robbie Ray are really the only three pitchers guaranteed a rotation spot if they are healthy, so we may see some musical chairs with those final two rotation spot depending on how Jordan Hicks and Roupp perform.

The Giants should feel good about their rotation going into the season, but they can also rest assured knowing they have several solid insurance options in case injuries or struggles rear their head.