Hayden

Birdsong

The move makes room for Ryan Borucki on the 40-man. Birdsong is set for Tommy John surgery and will likely be sidelined into the 2027 season.

That had been the unfortunate expectation once he was diagnosed with a Grade 2 UCL strain, but it’s now official. Dr. Keith Meister will perform the operation. The 24-year-old hurler will miss the entire 2026 season and likely the first half of the 2027 campaign as well while recovering.

That’s certainly not ideal. The 24-year-old hurler is currently weighing his treatment options, but it sounds like he’s going to be shelved for a while. Expect him to open the season on the 60-day injured list.

Birdsong impressed in his last relief outing this spring by throwing harder than he ever has. Now he’s feeling elbow soreness and is going to be evaluated. That timeline of events does not inspire a lot of confidence, but we will wait to see what the results of the evaluation are. Regardless, Birdsong was unlikely to pitch high-leverage innings for the Giants right away if he made the opening day roster, so his fantasy value was more of a long-term possibility.

Birdsong’s stuff continues to play up in shorter bursts out of the bullpen as his fastball averaged 98 mph and peaked at 99.6 mph, the hardest pitch of his career. The 24-year-old former top pitching prospect’s path to a spot on San Francisco’s season-opening roster is likely in the form of a multi-inning reliever and based on his raw stuff alone, it’s relatively easy to envision him blossoming into a quality one.

Birdsong gave up an RBI single to Patrick Wisdsom, but the big blow was a Miles Mastrobuoni dinger with the bases loaded before he exited. It’s just spring training, but Birdsong is trying to win one of the final spots in the rotation. The results have to be much better if that’s going to happen.

Roupp appears on track for a normal spring training after suffering a season-ending bone bruise in his left knee last August. The 27-year-old righty is vying for one of the final spots in San Francisco’s rotation this spring after posting a serviceable 3.80 ERA — 4.25 xERA — 1.48 and 102/45 K/BB ratio across 106 2/3 innings over 22 starts last year. He’ll need to beat out prospects Carson Whisenhunt, Blade Tidwell and swingman Hayden Birdsong to lock up a rotation spot. There’s some appeal in deeper mixed leagues and NL-only formats.

Birdsong was sent to Triple-A on Tuesday, but there was some thought that he could make his next start in the majors after Landen Roupp was placed on the injured list. That won’t happen, as Birdsong will get at least one turn in the minors. If he pitches well in Sacramento, he could be an option before the end of 2025.

Roupp started to feel the injury while spinning five scoreless frames in a victory over the Braves on Tuesday. No word yet on the severity of the issue or on how long the Giants expect him to be shelved for. Tristan Beck was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento in a corresponding move on Friday. We’ll see if the Giants trust the recently demoted Hayden Birdsong enough to return and take Roupp’s place in the rotation or if they’ll go in a different direction.

Birdsong will head back to Triple-A after losing the strike zone and giving up five runs without retiring a batter last night. He had a 2.79 ERA in five starts and 11 relief appearances through June 12, but he’d since given up 20 earned runs and walked 18 in 17 1/3 innings over his last five starts. Carson Seymour was called up and could jump into the rotation in his place next week. Carson Whisenhunt could also be an option, and there’s the chance the Giants could trade for a starter before the deadline.