SF Giants’ Tidwell showcases promise in first start of year despite walk-off loss to Rangers

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Giants’ season is no longer about trying to make the playoffs. That’s been apparent for weeks, but the team’s sell-a-thon ahead of the trade deadline served as the symbolic white flag on the year. For San Francisco, the next two months will not be about the wins and losses, but about answering one question:

Who can help the Giants be competitive in 2027?

A small handful of names are obvious. Most players on the active roster, however, have uncertain futures and are auditioning for a job on next year’s team. The word “opportunity” will become monotonous in the coming weeks, if it hasn’t already, and San Francisco needs to find out who can play. And in Tuesday night’s 5-4 walk-off loss to the Texas Rangers, opportunities were seized.

Bryce Eldridge, swollen thumb and all, delivered a pinch-hit, game-tying, two-run single in the top of the ninth. Osleivis Basabe hit his third home run in his last four games. But most imperative of all was Blade Tidwell, who allowed two runs over a career-high five innings and featured a six-pitch mix — technically five, in his assessment.

The Giants are an organization in serious need of major-league quality starting pitching. Robbie Ray and Tyler Mahle were just traded away, while Trevor McDonald and Hayden Birdsong have had their seasons ended by elbow surgeries. Tidwell, then, will have plenty of chances to stick as a starter.

“I’m excited for the opportunity,” Tidwell said. “I’m embracing it.”

Tidwell, drafted as a starter, didn’t crack the Giants’ Opening Day roster but was quickly recalled, making eight appearances out of the bullpen in April. He allowed four runs over 12 innings (3.00 ERA) with 10 strikeouts, then was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento and stretched out as a starter.

The 25-year-old’s outing on Tuesday was his first appearance with the Giants since April 28, and he’s working with a slightly revamped arsenal. For one, he’s ditched his splitter in favor of a traditional changeup. Tidwell also threw two curveballs against the Rangers, both for balls, and made it clear that the pitch is still in the research-and-development process.

There’s also the matter of velocity, which will be important to dictating his ceiling. Tidwell’s four-seam fastball averaged 94.7 mph on Tuesday, down from 96.2 mph when he appeared as a reliever earlier this season. Still, Tidwell had enough gas in the tank to end his night strong, his 100th and final pitch clocking in at 95.6 mph.

While it’s common for starters to conserve their velocity, Tidwell said he didn’t intentionally take some ticks off his four-seamer.

“That’s actually new,” Tidwell said. “I’ve been throwing about the same speed starting as relieving. I don’t know why my velo is a little bit down today, just battling with that.”

Tidwell labored through the first inning, allowing two runs and throwing 32 pitches. The Rangers’ Brandon Nimmo drove in the game’s first run on an RBI double, then Ezequiel Duran doubled Texas’ lead to 2-0 with an RBI single. Tidwell developed a rhythm from the second inning onward, allowing just three singles the rest of the way.

One of Tidwell’s best sequences of the night happened with two outs in the bottom of the third. Tidwell fell behind in the count 3-1 to Duran, but got Duran to flail at a sweeper out of the zone for strike two, then locked him up on another sweeper to punch him out.

“I don’t want to be the five-and-dive guy, you know what I mean?” Tidwell said. “But I think I bounced back and battled there after the first inning.”

“To me, it was a good mix as the game went on,” said manager Tony Vitello. “He looked like he was attacking. He had his intensity, but he was also pitching really well.”

It’s fair to argue that the Giants’ rotation is currently the team’s biggest uncertainty, both in the present and future.

The only real certainties in this rotation are Logan Webb and Landen Roupp, and it’s hard to ignore that the latter already eclipsed his previous career high for innings with two months remaining. Tidwell’s command has been shaky (11.0% walk rate in Triple-A), but the allure of a deep arsenal with multiple plus pitches is plenty tantalizing.

Especially if he can hold his velocity in the mid-90s.

“I think just having to cover ourselves, and part of that is maybe not having as many candidates to do it with that group,” Vitello said of Tidwell’s transition back to starting. “Obviously, [Carson Whisenhunt] stepped up, he got a couple chances. I know Blade, without even speaking to him about it — I’m just inferring — is chomping at the bit and saying, ‘When is it my turn?’ He got it tonight.”

For all the bright moments on Tuesday, it was a night that ultimately ended in agony as Jung Hoo Lee misread what should’ve been an inning-ending flyout in the bottom of the ninth.

San Francisco entered the top of the seventh inning trailing 2-0, but Basabe changed that with one swing by turning on a 97.1 mph sinker from Chase Silseth and sneaking a game-tying, two-run homer over the left-field fence.

The Rangers retook the lead in the eighth on a two-run double by Duran, but Eldridge notched things right back up at four apiece by sneaking a single through the right side against lefty Jacob Latz. Latz wasn’t just an All-Star this year, entering play with a 1.80 ERA, but the southpaw hadn’t blown a save since May 13.

The good vibes didn’t last long. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, right fielder Jung Hoo Lee appeared to misread what should’ve been an inning-ending fly out off the bat of Duran. Instead of going to the 10th, the ball landed on the right-field warning track, and Texas scored the winning run.