SAN FRANCISCO — Not two years ago Hayden Birdsong was just one of eight Giants prospects in a dorm room in the Dominican Republic. Just as bushy-haired and even more baby-faced back then, the five-day cultural immersion camp was where Kyle Harrison met the freshly drafted right-hander out of Eastern Illinois.
“Living with someone, I got to know him a decent bit,” Harrison said.
With a group that included fellow pitching prospects Trevor McDonald and Eric Silva, they were exposed to the local cuisine. Swam in the tropical waters offshore of some nearby islands. Made use of the workout facilities at the Giants’ Felipe Alou training complex. And stayed in its dorms, which also house the organization’s youngest minor-leaguers, newly signed teenagers from Latin America.
“There were eight of us in the room, so it was like bunk beds,” Harrison said, calling the trip “eye-opening. … We were immersed in the full experience they get down there.”
Hayden Birdsong. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Harrison has taken an active interest in Birdsong’s career ever since, so he was thrilled when he saw the new locker inside the home clubhouse Tuesday evening.
Birdsong, 22, was called up to start Wednesday against the Chicago Cubs, making his major-league debut less than two years since the Giants made him the last of six pitchers they selected with their first six draft picks in 2022. In corresponding moves, Mason Black was optioned back to Triple-A Sacramento, and left-hander Raymond Burgos was designated for assignment.
The sixth-ranked prospect in the organization, according to MLB.com, Birdsong was the Giants’ most highly touted arm to debut since Harrison last August.
“Sometimes there’s a need; sometimes it’s performance-based,” manager Bob Melvin said of Birdsong’s promotion. “In this case, I think it’s both.”
With more starters on the injured list than in their rotation, the Giants tapped the hard-throwing Birdsong after only two starts for Triple-A Sacramento. Opposing Hayden Wesneski, not only was it the first matchup of Haydens in major-league history (featuring two of the only three Haydens to crack the majors), it was the first time in three games this home stand Melvin didn’t have to think about the route he planned to take to the mound after the first inning.
“You look at his overall numbers this year, they’re really good,” Melvin said. “Both Double- and Triple-A.”
In 13 starts between Double-A Richmond and Triple-A Sacramento, Birdsong has limited opponents to a .196 batting average and a 2.51 ERA over 57⅓ innings while striking out 75 batters and walking 26. With a fastball that touches the upper 90s, a sharp slider and a bigger-breaking curveball, Birdsong has averaged 13.10 strikeouts per nine innings since his professional debut.
Birdsong’s 247 minor-league strikeouts have come in 169⅔ total innings, making him the greenest pitching prospect to debut for the Giants since Tim Lincecum, who stepped on to Oracle Park’s mound for the first time with only 62⅔ professional innings under hit belt.
Drafted 196th overall, Birdsong make one of the most rapid ascents of anyone in the 2022 class, despite staying off many teams’ radars in the pre-draft process. Of the assortment of arms the Giants set their sights on, he was the first to reach the majors, and only two players drafted after him in the entire class earned quicker call-ups.
Growing up in Matoon, Illinois — a small town of about 17,000 situated between St. Louis, Indianapolis and Springfield — Birdsong was such a late bloomer that his own dad, Stacey, left him off the American Legion team he coached, telling his 5-foot-9, 14-year-old son, “You’re not ready,” according to The Athletic.
It took the watchful eye of Bert Bradley, a former Giants minor-league pitching coordinator and fellow resident of Mattoon, to put Birdsong on the team’s radar. Bradley gave Birdsong his first pitching lesson at 10 years old, according to The Athletic, and filled in the Giants’ front office of his development at Eastern Illinois.
Even upon being drafted, Birdsong had been only used as a reliever, and his fastball was still sitting in the low-90s.
Now, he has grown into a muscular 6-foot-4 frame with a fastball to match.
“It’s an electric fastball, and he’s only throwing it harder,” Harrison said.”He’s figuring out his offspeed work and he’s been doing good this year. … I’ve always followed him and I’m really happy, really excited for him.”
Next steps for Snell, Ray, other pitchers
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Blake Snell and Robbie Ray made their way from the Giants’ bullpen, across the outfield grass and to the pitcher’s mound, where they were joined by Tristan Beck, who participated in pitcher’s fielding practice Wednesday for the first time since he suffered an aneurysm in his right arm in spring training.
Beck is expected to join Snell and Ray in throwing off a mound “in the next couple days,” Melvin said.
The Giants’ pair of injured starters will each make their second rehab starts for different affiliates Friday night.
After tossing 2⅓ shutout innings for Sacramento on Sunday, Ray will take his rehab to Single-A San Jose, who are home at Excite Ballpark, and Snell will follow up a more difficult outing (1⅔ innings, 2 runs, 3 walks) by hitting the road with the River Cats, who play in Las Vegas.
“Robbie’s a little bit more on a schedule,” Melvin said, adding that the veteran left-hander remains on track for sometime around the All-Star break. “Blake obviously because it’s not his arm we’re dealing with – it’s a groin – we’re trying to see how he feels after each one.”