Hayden Birdsong News: Fails to record an out Monday

Birdsong (4-4) suffered the loss Monday at Atlanta, allowing five runs on one hit, four walks and a hit-by-pitch while not retiring any of the six batters he faced.

This was a disastrous outing for the 23-year-old, as he completely lost his sense of the strike zone, firing just six strikes out of 25 total pitches. Entering this contest, Birdsong has issued four or more free passes in each of his previous three appearances, over which he produced a 7.62 ERA across 13 innings. This poor performance ballooned Birdsong's ERA from 4.11 to 4.80 over 65.2 total innings. The Giants had already skipped a rotation turn for the young right-hander prior to the All-Star break, as his last start came July 6, signaling the team was already considering a relief role for him. Birdsong is currently scheduled to make his next start against the Mets at home this weekend, but it would not be surprising to see the Giants either move him to the bullpen or demote him following this calamitous performance.