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Birdsong shines on night Giants' bullpen needed the help originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — Hayden Birdsong’s last outing left a bad taste in his mouth. Last Tuesday, his name went in Bryce Harper’s book, and all he could think about for the rest of the Giants’ series at Citizens Bank Park was how much he needed to get back on the mound. 

“I wanted Philly again,” Birdsong said Monday night. “I was itching, telling [bullpen coach Garvin Alston]: ‘Hey, I’m ready.'”

The benefit of being a reliever now is that Birdsong will occasionally get a second crack at a team. But he’s also such a big part of this organization’s future that he might not always get that shot when he wants it. The Giants had no intention of throwing him back out there against the Philadelphia Phillies after he pitched twice in three days, and Birdsong had to wait nearly a full week to touch the mound again.

This is his new reality now, and he couldn’t possibly be handling it better. 

After five days off, Birdsong threw three shutout innings in a 5-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday at Oracle Park, saving the bullpen on a night when both Tyler Rogers and Ryan Walker were unavailable because of recent workloads. He took over in the sixth inning of a 2-2 game and struck out four, earning his first win of the 2025 MLB season and first big league win as a reliever. 

“We’re looking for spots like that for him,” manager Bob Melvin said. “It worked out really well today.”

The Bullpen Birdsong experiment could have been awkward. When the Giants chose Landen Roupp as their fifth starter a month ago, there seemed to be a good chance that Birdsong would be back in Triple-A by this point of the season, waiting for an opening in the rotation. 

Nobody has pulled that door all the way open yet, but it hasn’t mattered. Birdsong has been so valuable as a reliever that there’s no need to send him down. He’ll be back in the rotation at some point this season, and possibly for good, but for now he’s a needed weapon for a team that hasn’t made a roster move with the pitching staff through 23 games. 

Birdsong has thrown 13 relief innings over six outings and given up just the two runs, both on the Harper homer. He has 13 strikeouts, three of which came in the eighth inning Monday with the Giants nursing a two-run lead. 

Melvin had Camilo Doval ready for the ninth and Erik Miller available if Birdsong really ran into trouble, but he let the 23-year-old face Sal Frelick with two on and two outs. Birdsong threw his new changeup to get out of the jam. 

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“I don’t think anything bothers him too much,” Melvin said. “With baserunners out there, he has the weapons to strike someone out and also the weapons to get a double play.”

It didn’t take long for Birdsong to adjust to life as a reliever, but all of this is still new. There’s a different kind of adrenaline that comes with protecting a two-run lead in the eighth inning in front of 30,000 screaming fans, but Birdsong didn’t seem to feel it. As the changeup settled into Patrick Bailey’s glove, Birdsong turned and strolled off the mound without a hint of emotion on his face. 

“I think if I were to come in in the eighth then it would be a lot more adrenaline going through me, but I was already out there for two [innings],” Birdsong said. “It was like the same thing. Just keep pitching.”

That mentality is part of the reason the Giants went with this plan in the first place. Birdsong always has seemed unflappable, and the Giants had no doubts this spring that he could handle a role change and all that would come with having to keep games close in the late innings. 

As he talked about his new job on Monday night, Birdsong said everything has gone pretty smoothly. His body is bouncing back well, and while he expects to be sore Tuesday after throwing 49 pitches, he also expects to be ready by Wednesday if the Giants need him. There’s no revenge to get this time, but he still can’t wait to get back out there. 

“It’s still baseball regardless of what I’m doing,” he said. “I’m starting to get used to it. I’m starting to like it. It’s fun.”

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(This article was written with the assistance of Castmagic, an AI tool, and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy. Please reach out to us if you notice any mistakes.)

When a player is as talented as Juan Soto, even his “down” moments generate headlines. On the latest episode of "Baseball Bar-B-Cast," hosts Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman dove into the ongoing conversation around Soto’s performance thus far for the 2025 New York Mets — and let’s just say both hosts think the concern about Soto is seriously overblown.

The Soto 'slump' that isn’t

For Mets fans who might be worried about Soto after a slightly “slow” start, just pause and look at the numbers. As Mintz points out, “Do you know what his OPS+ is right now? … It’s 137.” 

Shusterman echoes the sentiment, highlighting how baseball discourse tends to exaggerate any little blip for stars such as Soto: “When we’re talking about these tiny April samples … superstars all over the place have 60 OPS+ through the first [few weeks]. They're, like, actively crap, [but] you know, doesn't happen with [Soto]. It doesn't exist. He's on base too often. And that's why, you know, [he has the] highest floor in baseball.”

The bottom line: Even while Mets Twitter wrings its hands, Soto is producing at a rate that’s 37% better than league average. That kind of “struggle” would be a career year for most big leaguers. 

As Mintz says, “That's why Juan Soto is different. … The struggle, the strife, the worry is about a guy who is 37% better than the average hitter.”

Superstar standards and perspective

What Mintz and Shusterman are saying is that the conversation around Soto is more about expectations than reality. “Pretty bad for Juan Soto, but this is why Juan Soto is different,” Mintz deadpans.

They also offer a dose of long-term context, pointing out that last year, Aaron Judge looked “like a bad dude” for a month, posting a .674 OPS through 22 games. Hot and cold streaks come for everyone, but the truth is that Soto’s “lows” are higher than most players’ highs. What sets Soto apart, according to the hosts, is not just his power but also his ability to reach base and avoid prolonged hitting droughts.

So if you’re tuning in to Mets games or scrolling through social media and see worried takes about Soto, take it from "Baseball Bar-B-Cast:" There’s nothing to stress about. 

“Juan Soto — he’ll be just fine. I wouldn't be too concerned about him,” Shusterman concludes.

The real takeaway? Enjoy the show, and take some time to appreciate the player.

For more on the Mets and the rest of the league, tune in to "Baseball-Bar-B-Cast" on Apple, Spotify or YouTube.

Another rough night at Citi Field to begin Phillies' season series with Mets originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

NEW YORK — The fifth pitch of Aaron Nola’s night was a low-and-in curveball to one of Francisco Lindor’s nitro zones, it traveled 376 feet over the wall in right field and so began the Phillies’ 2025 season series with the Mets.

The Phils were sent home last October on this same field in Flushing, and the Mets again looked like the superior team on Monday night. The final score was a 5-4 loss but the Mets entered the ninth with a five-run lead and tried to get middle reliever Max Kranick through a third inning when the Phillies finally came through with a few knocks. It was too little, too late.

Nola served up leadoff home runs in each of the first two innings while Mets right-hander Tylor Megill stifled the Phils’ offense for the sixth consecutive time.

Megill retired eight of nine the first trip through the order, striking out five, before the Phillies put some solid plate appearances on him in the third inning. They loaded the bases on a Bryson Stott single and back-to-back two-out walks from Trea Turner and Bryce Harper. Kyle Schwarber expanded the zone, though, to strike out on a down-and-away changeup.

Not capitalizing on that opportunity hurt because the Phillies’ chances to touch Megill have always been sparse. He’s dominated them in six starts dating back to 2022 with a 1.36 ERA. The Phillies have hit .149 and homered once in 124 plate appearances against him.

The Phillies are 13-10, three games behind the Mets in the NL East. They’re 20-30 in their last 50 games against the Mets, who played them tough even before they started spending freely under owner Steve Cohen. This looks like a much better club than even the one that defeated the Phillies in the 2024 NLDS with the additions of Juan Soto and Clay Holmes, a healthy Kodai Senga and the most productive start of Pete Alonso’s career.

It was obviously just one early-season game and the teams will meet at least 12 more times, but Monday was a continuation of a couple of concerning trends. The Phils are going to need to hit Megill at some point. His career ERA entering the night was 4.39.

Nola was slightly better than he’d been previously and two of the runs he was charged with were inherited by Jose Ruiz, but he continues to struggle with the home run ball, pitch with diminished velocity and put more traffic on the basepaths than usual. Though he’s had trouble in the past keeping the ball in the park, Nola has always maintained low walk rates and low opposing batting averages, which has resulted in many of the home runs being solos.

Nola has been more hittable than ever before, though, with a .301 opponents’ batting average compared to .233 for his career. He’s also walked 10 batters over his last three starts. Nola said after his most recent outing against the Giants that he hasn’t felt like himself from the stretch this season, and he’s spent quite a bit of time in the stretch, putting the leadoff man on base in nine of his last 18 innings. He is 0-5 with a 6.43 ERA.

Once again, though, it wouldn’t have mattered much if Nola pitched a gem. The Phillies have scored a grand total of five runs for him in his five starts.

They’ll look to even the series Tuesday night behind Cristopher Sanchez, whose last outing was one of the most impressive by a Phillie in recent memory. He’ll need to keep it up.