San Francisco Giants Pitcher Hayden Birdsong Looks for Positives
Despite having rough opener in Spring Training, Hayden Birdsong seeks silver lining with San Francisco Giants.
Video Transcript
Hey, I'm Joe Rutledge for Giants Roundtable at Roundtable Sports.
Hayden Birdsong came out on Saturday looking to make a positive impact in his spring training opener for the Giants.
Well, it didn't quite work out that well for Birdsong.
He ended up giving up five runs in just a little less than an inning pitched for San Francisco Giants against the Seattle Mariners on Saturday.
He gave up those five earned runs, and as soon as he reached a level that Giants manager Tony Vitello thought he just reached his limit, well, he pulled him from the game.
The Giants did, did end up beating the Mariners ten to five on Saturday in a Cactus League contest.
Birdsong, though, wants to earn a spot in the starting rotation or on the ball club before they break camp.
Last season, Birdsong spent time with the Big League club, in which he did record double-digit saves, but he ended up playing Triple-A Sacramento for the rest of the second half of the season.
Birdsong came into camp wanting to show that he'd learned some lessons from last season and was able to showcase what he could do to help the Giants succeed this season.
Birdsong has worked on his slider cutter pitch during the off-season, and he was encouraged to keep doing so by one of the new Giants pitching coaches as well.
Can Birdsong land a spot on the ball club?
It's a possibility.
The Giants, of course, want to get themselves into a competitive position this season, one that finds them not merely trying to finish at .500.
Pitchers like Birdsong are going to be an important part of the Giants' success.
Hopefully, for Birdsong's case and situation, he can earn a spot and stay up with the Big League club all season long.
He still has time to show what he can do in camp, and just because he had a kind of a rough start in the first outing shouldn't be p- put against him totally.
Look for him to have a better outing second time out and watch for Giants manager Tony Vitello to hope he does have a better outing in the second time around.
Vitello did watch video of Birdsong's pitching last season, and he was impressed at how the young pitcher handled himself in tough situations.
Let's see if Birdsong can carry that into the upcoming season.
