Harrison doesn't look behind schedule in 1st Cactus appearance

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The fifth starter competition is heating up for the Giants.

Kyle Harrison, Hayden Birdsong and Landen Roupp are among the leading candidates to join Logan Webb, Justin Verlander, Robbie Ray and Jordan Hicks in San Francisco’s Opening Day rotation this year, and all three youngsters are doing their best to make the decision as difficult as possible for the club.

Roupp, 26, kicked off the battle by spinning two scoreless innings in the Giants’ Cactus League opener against the Rangers last week and continued to bolster his case by striking out five over three shutout innings against the Mariners on Thursday. Birdsong, 23, hit 98 mph while giving up one run over two innings in his spring debut against the Reds on Sunday.

An illness kept Harrison out of action for the first week of exhibition play, but the 23-year-old left-hander finally got a chance to begin to make his case on Friday in the Giants’ 9-2 win over the Brewers at Scottsdale Stadium.

Like Roupp and Birdsong, Harrison impressed out of the gate, striking out three over two scoreless innings after coming in to relieve starter Logan Webb, who surrendered only a solo shot to Caleb Durbin over three innings of work. Harrison sat at 91-93 mph with his fastball and allowed two hits, both of which came on his slider/cutter.

“I was looking to just fill up the zone,” Harrison said. “Attack guys and work on my pitches. I feel like I accomplished that and was attacking the zone. Throwing the strikes is the name of the game. Strike one, strike two. That’s something I’m striving to do this year. I felt good.”

Despite being a week behind schedule, Harrison is still viewed as the favorite to nab the final spot in the Giants’ rotation, entering the race with incumbent status after logging a 4.56 ERA over 24 starts as a rookie last year.

He managed to compete without his best stuff in 2024, as his fastball velocity noticeably dipped after he landed on the injured list with a right ankle sprain in June. Harrison returned to the mound less than three weeks later, but he wasn’t fully right and ended up landing back on the IL with left shoulder impingement in September, which forced him to spend the first part of his offseason rehabbing.

Harrison said he feels good now and is working to gradually build up his velocity, though he showed that his fastball can still play even if it's not in the 95-96 mph range he showed while shooting through the Minors.

Case in point: He struck out the first batter he faced -- former Giant Mark Canha -- swinging on a top-rail 92 mph heater to lead off the fourth.

“I think people are so obsessed with the idea of me and velo,” Harrison said. “That’s the thing. I don’t need to have the velo to get the swing-and-miss. The analytics show that. But it’ll get there. I haven’t had the cookie-cutter offseason, so I was just going into the offseason with putting my head down, and now the shoulder is right. The body is feeling good. Now I don’t want to rush anything. I just want to go out there and compete."

Birdsong entered the game after Harrison and also added two scoreless innings to his ledger in his second appearance of the spring, though he said he’s working on filling up the zone more with his fastball and slider.

If Harrison, Birdsong and Roupp continue to perform, the Giants could find themselves with a good problem to have at the end of the spring. While only one rotation spot is up for grabs, the Giants have more openings available in the bullpen and could consider carrying some of their talented young starters in there as well.

“We can talk all about competition,” Melvin said. “All these guys are going to have innings this year. It’s not out of the question that one of them starts in the bullpen, too. Roupp pitched out of the bullpen, too. It’s a good competition to have. It’s great to have good talented young arms. At this point in time, we’re just trying to get their footing out there and make sure they’re healthy and then we’ll make more decisions about who the fifth guy is at the end. But it’s going to work its way out.”