We finally have our answers.
The one big roster question that hung over the San Francisco Giants all Spring Training has finally been answered, as the team has finalized and formalized the plan for their trio of exciting young starting pitchers. On Monday, a few hours before their exhibition game against the Detroit Tigers, Giants manager Bob Melvin announced that right-hander Landen Roupp had won the competition and will be the Giants fifth starter. In slightly more surprising news, Melvin also announced that fellow right-hander Hayden Birdsong will begin the year on the roster, working out of the bullpen.
Landen Roupp won the fifth starter spot. Hayden Birdsong also made the team and will pitch out of the bullpen.
This all comes a few days after lefty Kyle Harrison was optioned to AAA Sacramento, with Melvin saying that Harrison was never really in the race for the fifth starter given how behind he started following offseason shoulder rehab and an illness that wiped him out at the beginning of camp.
Roupp winning the job was hardly surprising given how well he pitched this spring. He officially made four starts and pitched 12 innings, with a 3.75 ERA, a 3.24 FIP, and 14 strikeouts against just one walk, with nearly all of the damage occurring in one outing. But what he did in the unofficial games was perhaps more impressive, and arguably sealed the deal. In a start at Minor League camp, Roupp reportedly struck out 13 batters in just five innings, including the first nine batters he faced. And on Sunday, in an exhibition game against his AAA Sacramento teammates, Roupp struck out eight batters in five innings, ceding one hit, three walks, and a run … while, critically, Birdsong was only able to record one out while allowing three runs and dealing with a fingernail issue.
Birdsong heading to the bullpen is a bit more surprising. Still just 23, Birdsong is, in many people’s eyes, the young Giants pitcher with the most potential, and that was on display with a dominant spring in which he gave up just six hits and one run in 12 innings, with a flawless 18-to-0 strikeout-to-walk ratio. His future is unquestionably in the rotation, so it’s a little bit surprising seeing the Giants place him in the bullpen. Many teams prefer to keep their starting pitcher prospects in rotations — even if in the Minors — while others prefer to get their best arms to the bigs in any capacity, and figure the rest out later (hey, it worked with Garrett Crochet). It seems the new Giants brass is operating under the latter mindset, and it might be in part so that they have the option already in-house should an injury-prone veteran like Justin Verlander or Robbie Ray need to skip a start.
It seems likely that Roupp, Birdsong, and Harrison will all make plenty of starts in the Majors this year, so it will be interesting to monitor all of their performances in the early going, and see if the latter two are able to put any pressure on the former.