SURPRISE, Ariz. — The Giants will roll into Cincinnati in roughly per week for Opening Day at Nice American Ballpark, and a great chunk of the gamers remaining in main league camp have a good suggestion of the place they’ll begin their season. For a choose few, their futures stay ambiguous.
Will the Giants choose Hayden Birdsong, Landen Roupp or Kyle Harrison to be their fifth starter? And what occurs to the 2 starters who don’t make the lower? What concerning the ultimate spots in San Francisco’s bullpen? Does the bench look any completely different now in comparison with the start of camp?
With Cactus League play coming to an in depth, right here’s how San Francisco’s key positional battles are shaping up:
Beginning pitcherThe Giants had 4 locks of their rotation earlier than they received to Scottsdale: Logan Webb, Justin Verlander, Robbie Ray and Jordan Hicks. The workforce mentioned early on that there can be a contest for the fifth starter, and getting into camp, Harrison made essentially the most sense to safe that spot over Birdsong and Roupp. Regardless of coping with ankle and shoulder accidents final season, Harrison loved incumbent standing as a result of his 24 begins and 124 1/3 innings had been second on the Giants behind solely Webb. The final month, although, has modified the calculus.
“We’ll see where we are with him,” Melvin mentioned on Sunday. “He’s a little bit behind everybody. Today, getting him three innings and it seemed like there was a little bit more life in his arm. Like I said, it was a step in the right direction.”
If Harrison is out of the operating, that leaves Birdsong and Roupp as the ultimate two candidates. And of these two, Birdsong probably has the sting. Not solely does Birdsong have a 0.75 ERA with 18 strikeouts, however the 23-year-old hasn’t walked a single batter throughout Cactus League play, no small feat for somebody who walked an unsavory 13.7% of the batters he confronted final season.
Roupp has had a effective spring in his personal proper. Together with a 3.75 ERA and 14 strikeouts to at least one stroll throughout Cactus League play, Roupp threw 5 scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts in opposition to Colorado Rockies minor leaguers final week. That mentioned, it’s laborious to miss the mixture of Birdsong’s spring efficiency and final yr’s tantalizing strikeout numbers (72 innings, 88 strikeouts).
“It’s been kind of cool to follow,” Melvin mentioned. “Like I said, (Harrison) is probably a little bit farther behind as far as his progression, but Roupp and Birdsong have really been fantastic.”
So, does that depart Roupp destined for Sacramento? Not fairly. There’s additionally the matter of the …
BullpenIf Roupp doesn’t make the workforce as a starter, the bullpen stays a viable possibility. Roupp, in spite of everything, made final yr’s Opening Day roster as a reliever. When requested about Birdsong and Roupp on Wednesday, Melvin mentioned that “one could start, one could relieve as we sit here right now.”
Ought to Roupp land within the bullpen, the Giants must sacrifice — at the least within the short-term — retaining him stretched out as a starter. That, in flip, would depart Harrison as the following starter in line ought to something occur to the quintet of Webb, Verlander, Ray, Hicks or Birdsong.
Roupp would be part of a bullpen that can characteristic nearer Ryan Walker, Tyler Rogers, Camilo Doval, Erik Miller, Sean Hjelle and Randy Rodríguez. As for the eighth and ultimate spot? There are a number of compelling candidates.
Joey Lucchesi, a Newark native, hasn’t allowed a run this spring, can throw a number of innings and would give the Giants a second left-hander. Joel Peguero, a non-roster invitee able to hitting 101 mph, additionally hasn’t allowed a run this spring and was simply named the Barney Nugent Award winner. Tristan Beck and Spencer Bivens are each right-handers with major-league reduction expertise. However the true favourite to spherical out the bullpen is Lou Trivino.
Trivino, a non-roster invitee, hasn’t pitched within the majors since ’22 after present process Tommy John surgical procedure in ’23, however has pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings this spring. It’s additionally laborious to disregard that Trivino has a relationship with Melvin courting again to their respective tenures with the Oakland A’s. Deciding on Trivino over Lucchesi would depart the Giants with one lefty of their bullpen to start out the yr, however San Francisco has not been intent on having two left-handers in its bullpen.
BenchWhile there are a lot of shifting elements with the pitching workers, the bench state of affairs is much more simple.
Tom Murphy will probably begin the season on the injured checklist, leaving the Giants have two essential decisions for backup catcher: Sam Huff and Max Stassi. Huff, who was claimed off waivers, is already on the 40-man roster; Stassi is a non-roster invitee. Huff has flashed spectacular energy this spring and has typically began on days the place Patrick Bailey is off.
Luis Matos, a right-handed hitter, will get the sting over Grant McCray, a left-handed hitter, as a result of Matos can platoon with proper fielder Mike Yastrzemski. McCray can also be in want of extra seasoning with Triple-A Sacramento after hanging out in 43.1% of his plate appearances with the Giants final season.
With Huff, Matos and Jerar Encarnacion occupying three of the 4 bench spots, San Francisco will probably roll with Brett Properly over Casey Schmitt as a result of Properly supplies the Giants with a left-handed bat off the bench.
Initially Printed: March 19, 2025 at 8:35 PM PDT
