The Giants announced that right-hander Hayden Birdsong will undergo Tommy John surgery next week. He will miss the entire 2026 season and part of the 2027 campaign as well. Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area was among those to pass the info along.
The news is not surprising but is awful for Birdsong and the Giants regardless. It was reported a few days ago that Birdsong had an elbow issue and would be getting a second opinion. He was then diagnosed with a forearm strain and a sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament. He took a few days to consider his options but it seems he is destined for the surgeon’s table.
Prior to this injury, Birdsong was slated to be one of the club’s top depth starters. They project to start the season with a starting five of Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, Tyler Mahle, Adrian Houser and Landen Roupp. Due to injuries, teams usually need about a dozen starters to get through a full season. The Giants have Carson Seymour, Carson Whisenhunt and Blade Tidwell as optionable depth starters. Birdsong would have been in that group but has now been subtracted.
Birdsong should end up on the 60-day injured list whenever the Giants need a spot on the 40-man roster. The one silver lining of that outcome is that Birdsong will get a full year of service time and pay, more than if he spent the year as a healthy but frequently-optioned depth arm.
The typical recovery timeline for Tommy John surgery is usually 14 months or more. That means Birdsong won’t be available until about midway through the 2027 season, even in a best-case scenario. Ray and Mahle are both scheduled for free agency after 2026, so two rotation spots are potentially opening up. Those could be filled internally if guys like Seymour, Whisenhunt or Tidwell step up. The Giants could also make notable trades between now and then, in addition to potentially signing free agents next winter.
Time will tell what shape the rotation is in when Birdsong is again healthy but he should be a key part of the group regardless. He only has a 4.77 earned run average in his career so far but is only 24 years old and comes with some prospect pedigree. FanGraphs has been especially bullish, as they gave him the #42 overall spot at one point during the 2024 season. Birdsong posted a 2.51 ERA on the farm that year but then had a 6.23 ERA in Triple-A in 2025 and now he’s dealing with this lengthy rehab process.
Photo courtesy of Eakin Howard, Imagn Images
This might be a blessing in disguise for Birdsong. Gives him another restart after stumbling out of the gates this spring. He was headed for more seasoning in AAA and could have gone downhill from there. Now he can focus on his rehab and getting himself in the best possible shape physically and mentally over the next year
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Frug: Agreed. Especially the mental reset. I think he’s his own worst enemy at times. Never want to see a Tommy John surgery for anyone but it’s kind of what we expected. Good luck to him.
This was a foregone conclusion after the news earlier.
He’s still young, so he’s got time on his side at least.
Hope him a quick recovery. Young pitcher with potential.
Get well soon!
Say hi to Otis for me.
As a Padres fan I send my condolences to our friendly rivals to the north. Here’s to good health moving forward in the quest to take down the Dodgers in the division.
With Birdsong and Sanmartin definitely heading to the 60 Day IL and Peguero and Hentges potentially heading there, that opens up several roster spots for picking up some solid opt outs and cuts over the next few days. It’ll be interesting to watch.
When Birdsong was on he was amazing, but then he would completely lose the strike zone. As Yogi said, ninety percent of the game is half mental.
Their bullpen coach, Jesse Chavez, would’ve had a better season than Birdsong in 2026
I know I’m beating a dead horse, but I don’t understand why Trevor McDonald can’t get a mention. This is the third article in a row with no mention of him. I get Whisenhunt and Tidwell, but why list Seymour as an optionable depth starter, and not McDonald?
If teams hope rest over the winter is going to cure a bad arm or shoulder it doesn’t, the damage was done long before spring training
Of course.
His WHIP stinks