Giants have rotation hole after demoting Birdsong

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With just over a week to go until the July 31 Trade Deadline, the Giants suddenly find themselves with a glaring hole in their starting rotation.

Hayden Birdsong was demoted to Triple-A Sacramento following his disastrous start against the Braves on Monday, when he faced six batters without recording an out. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up five runs and issued four walks after throwing only six of his 25 pitches for strikes, underscoring the persistent control issues that have plagued him in recent weeks.

Birdsong opened the season in the Giants’ bullpen, but he worked his way back into the rotation after logging a 2.31 ERA over his first 11 appearances of the year. He wasn’t nearly as sharp in a starting role, though, struggling to a 6.17 ERA with 27 walks in 42 1/3 innings over his last 10 outings.

The Giants were hoping Birdsong would be able to get back on track after receiving a two-week layoff over the All-Star break, but he continued to have no answers for his wayward command on Monday, prompting the club to demote him to the Minors.

“He realized that this probably needed to happen,” manager Bob Melvin told reporters in Atlanta. “Just go down there and pitch without the pressure of what we’re going through right now. He’s still going to be a guy that is going to be a horse in this rotation for years to come, in my opinion. He’s just going through a difficult period that he’s never had to go through. It’s gone on for a bit, so he just needs a little bit of a breath.”

The Giants recalled right-handers Carson Seymour (San Francisco's No. 20 prospect per MLB Pipeline) and Sean Hjelle from Triple-A Sacramento to replenish their taxed bullpen, which was forced to cover eight innings on Monday, though Melvin said the club is still discussing who will replace Birdsong in the rotation next week.

It’s the latest question mark for a rotation that has All-Stars Logan Webb and Robbie Ray at the top but a lot of uncertainty surrounding the rest of the staff. Landen Roupp has established himself as a solid No. 3 option, but he’s on pace to shatter his previous career high in innings pitched and might need a break at some point in the second half. Justin Verlander, meanwhile, remains winless through his first 16 starts of the year.

With Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks no longer in the organization after being dealt to the Red Sox as part of the Rafael Devers trade, the Giants might need to seek out rotation reinforcements at the Trade Deadline, with the Brewers’ Jose Quintana, the Angels’ Kyle Hendricks, the Orioles’ Charlie Morton, the Pirates’ Andrew Heaney and the Royals’ Seth Lugo among the rental arms that might make sense for the club.

The Giants’ performance over the next week will likely influence how aggressive president of baseball operations Buster Posey will be at the Trade Deadline, so they’ll need to turn it around quickly if they want to build their case for more roster additions this year.

Birdsong’s demotion should give the Giants a chance to evaluate more of their internal options for now. Spencer Bivens could likely go multiple innings if the Giants want to run a bullpen game in the interim, though the organization could also give a traditional start to Seymour or promote another pitching prospect such as left-hander Carson Whisenhunt or righty Kai-Wei Teng from Triple-A Sacramento.

Whisenhunt, who is ranked San Francisco’s No. 2 prospect, entered Tuesday with a 4.42 ERA over 18 starts for the River Cats this year, while Teng has a 3.78 ERA over 24 appearances (four starts). Neither Whisenhunt nor Teng is currently on the 40-man roster, so the Giants would have to create a spot to call up either of them.

San Francisco expected several other young Triple-A starters -- including Trevor McDonald (5.86 ERA), Mason Black (4.78 ERA) and Carson Ragsdale (5.52 ERA) -- to compete for opportunities in the big league rotation this year, but they haven’t been forcing the issue with the River Cats thus far.

Another promising arm, Keaton Winn, missed nearly three months with a right shoulder injury and has been used in one-inning stints since returning to action on July 7, recording a 3.60 ERA over five appearances.