The Giants’ Hayden Birdsong delivers a pitch againts the Mariners in a Cactus League game last month. An elbow issue has him sidelined, and he could be facing surgery.
Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle
Hayden Birdsong throws a pitch during the first inning of a Cactus League game against the Mariners last month. The Giants right-hander is dealing with an elbow issue that could require surgery.
Charlie Riedel/Associated Press
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Hayden Birdsong appears to be looking at a familiar predicament for pitchers: The talented young starter has a Grade 2 flexor tendon-UCL sprain, and his options are expected to be rehab or full Tommy John surgery.
“Certainly not best-case scenario, but hopefully we get best-case scenario of the unfortunate circumstances,” manager Tony Vitello said before the San Francisco Giants’ game against the Brewers on Sunday.
“Obviously, I’m not not happy about it, but it’s one of those things that everybody kind of goes through,” Birdsong said. “I wish it wasn’t right now. I wish I could do a couple seasons before something like this happens, but hopefully it’s not as bad as we think it is.”
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With flexor-tendon involvement, the return from surgery might be months longer than a regular UCL repair, but Robbie Ray had the flexor tendon repaired along with his UCL on May 3, 2023, and was pitching for the Giants on July 27 of the next year, 15 months later.
Rehabbing elbow sprains — as Giants reliever Erik Miller did last year and then A’s reliever Mason Miller did in 2023 (and he’s made two All-Star teams since) — typically takes several months, but it is not always successful. In the event surgery is required, a pitcher’s timeline is then a few months later than it would have been if immediate surgery were the choice. It’s a tricky situation.
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Birdsong, 24, is scheduled to see Dr. Keith Meister, who performed Ray’s surgery, for a second opinion later this week. Meister also saw Miller, now with San Diego and Team USA, before Miller decided to rehab his sprained UCL. Miller’s sprain, however, was deemed mild.
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Birdsong felt a “pop, a rip” in his elbow while throwing a curveball Tuesday in a game against the Guardians. He also had been throwing 98-99 mph in that one-inning appearance. “It didn’t hurt,” he said, “it was just weird.”
He’s an interesting case, typically described by scouts and execs as the most talented of the Giants’ batch of young starters, but his results last year were erratic. A terrific start to the season in the bullpen and then rotation veered south in July when Birdsong’s walk rate climbed. He didn’t fare much better the rest of the way at Triple-A Sacramento, and his first two spring appearances weren’t great: eight runs in 1⅓ innings.
He looked terrific against the Guardians until his outing was cut short.
“It was 97-100 mph, strikeouts with four pitches,” pitching coach Justin Meccage said Sunday morning. “We’re really encouraged about where he’s at and the progress that he’s made and the mindset — I think he’s starting to build confidence, and we’re feeling good about that.”
Meccage said that some delivery issues plus that confidence factor were among the issues Birdsong was dealing with. Added Vitello: “I think he’s too hard on himself on the mound, if we’re going to be blunt, but I think he’s always a positive kid, so he’s been great the couple days and I think he’ll approach the whole deal the right way.”
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San Francisco still has a strong group of young-ish starters who can fill in when the Giants have a need in the rotation or the bullpen, and at least one is expected to be in the bullpen to open the season. Those in the mix include Trevor McDonald, Carson Whisenhunt, Carson Seymour, Blade Tidwell and Keaton Winn, with McDonald taking something of an early lead for the potential roster spot.
“I think the depth, if you’re talking about the whole group, is still strong,” Vitello said. “We’d love to have Birdie be a part of that group, because he does have the ability to swing back and forth between starting and bullpen. … If you’re going to boil it down to a bigger-picture question, I do feel good about the competitiveness and the depth.”
Game action: The Giants lost a perfect game bid with two outs in the ninth when Gregory Santos, making his first appearance since Feb. 27 after going home for personal reasons, walked Milwaukee’s Cooper Pratt. Santos then lost the no-hitter by giving up an RBI double to Blake Burke — who played for Vitello at Tennessee — before getting the final out of San Francisco’s 7-1 win.
“To me, it’s a win to get Santos reps, you know he had a family deal that he had to take care of,” Vitello said.
It was a toss-up whether Ray’s five perfect innings with eight strikeouts or Jerar Encarnacion’s second-inning mammoth homer was more impressive, but let’s go with that three-run blast, which went 463 feet and landed beyond the trees in left center.
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“I think it did hit a guy that was just walking, and we can chuckle about it, because I don’t think anybody got hurt, but if you’re walking that deep from home plate, you probably are not expecting a baseball to come near you,” said Vitello.
“Oh my goodness,” Ray said. “It was amazing … 115 mph at 28 degrees (launch angle), it’s a homer anywhere. Maybe the Green Monster swallows it — but it might go through it.”
Encarnacion, who is out of options, is staking a major claim on the final roster spot with his power, hard-nosed defense and .302 average.
The defensive play of the game came from second baseman Christian Koss, who sprinted with his back to the plate for Blake Perkins’ popup to short right, tipped it up in the air and caught it.
“He turned like a madman and went, there was no drifting,” Vitello said. “You always hear coaches yell from the dugout, ‘Don’t drift!’ And he turned and ran full speed — and then the SportsCenter part, too.”
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Ray, an All-Star last season, has thrown nine no-hit innings over his past two outings while raving about how good he feels after rediscovering his old delivery. His slider was especially effective Sunday, finishing off six of his strikeouts.
He said he expects to pitch once more in Scottsdale, on Saturday, before starting the second game of the season against the Yankees on March 27 at Oracle Park.