Young SF Giants pitcher may have already ruined his chance to make Opening Day roster

The SF Giants are currently playing their first spring training game on Saturday against the Seattle Mariners. The young pitcher Hayden Birdsong got the ball with the hope that he could begin his redemption arc, but that did not happen at all.

Birdsong got absolutely knocked around in the contest. He was only supposed to pitch the first inning but he only recorded one out and surrendered five earned runs, four of them coming on a grand slam that knocked him out of the game.

His ERA is an astronomical 135.00 for the spring now.

Hayden Birdsong may have already cost himself Opening Day roster spot

Perhaps the most alarming development from the outing was the fact that he issued two walks. It was command issues that really hurt him last season with the Giants and eventually got him demoted.

Obviously this is just his first outing of the spring and he did have some bad luck as he induced some ground balls that were hit in the wrong spot. There is plenty of time for him to get back on track but first impressions matter especially with a new coaching staff and Birdsong did not do a lot to impress new manager Tony Vitello.

Birdsong is also going to have a lot of competition to make the team. While the starting rotation is already spoken for, there is definitely an opening for a young pitcher to snag a spot in the bullpen.

The 24-year-old will be competing with the likes of Carson Whisenhunt, Trevor McDonald, and Carson Seymour for a potential spot on the Opening Day roster so it should be a fairly heated competition.

Of all those young pitchers, Birdsong probably has the best raw stuff. He can be absolutely filthy when he is on and last spring he was the most impressive pitcher in camp after Landen Roupp. Birdsong was great last season for the first couple months of the regular season when he was coming out of the bullpen, but after he worked his way into the rotation the command left him and things got ugly.

Coming into 2026 there was hope that he could perhaps work his way back into the rotation. One writer even dubbed him the most pivotal player in the NL West because of what he could do to elevate San Francisco's rotation if he pitched up to his potential.

It's just his first outing, but Birdsong really struggled and looked like the worst version of himself from last year so he has to turn things around quick if he wants to make the team.