{"id":3654,"date":"2026-07-03T14:38:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T14:38:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3654"},"modified":"2026-07-03T14:38:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T14:38:45","slug":"sf-giants-birdsong-shares-update-on-his-tommy-john-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3654","title":{"rendered":"SF Giants’ Birdsong shares update on his Tommy John recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PHOENIX \u2014 The first stages of Hayden Birdsong\u2019s recovery from Tommy John surgery have been pretty simple.<\/p>\n

Read more A backyard astronomer\u2019s guide to summer 2026 in the Bay Area<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of lifting. A lot of eating,\u201d Birdsong laughed.<\/p>\n

Birdsong, as the summer rolls along, will slowly add more to his rehab as he recovers from season-ending surgery. For now, he\u2019s limited in the scope of his activities.<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old isrehabbing in Scottsdale at the Papago Sports Complex, the Giants\u2019 minor-league facility. A couple of miles west, the Giants dropped two of three earlier this week to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field, escaping on Wednesday night with their first win of the season against their division rival.<\/p>\n

Birdsong wishes he were capable of logging innings for a pitching staff in need of all the help it can get.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just sitting here, and I have no chance of helping,\u201d Birdsong said in an interview at Papago. \u201cThat\u2019s the annoying thing. I\u2019m just sitting here watching things happen and I\u2019m like, \u2018(Expletive).\u2019 I can\u2019t do anything to help. I can\u2019t do anything in the clubhouse. I can\u2019t hang out with the guys. I can\u2019t bring anything to the table. I\u2019m just kind of out here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Birdsong entered spring training fighting for a spot on the Opening Day roster, but fell out of the competition early due to poor performance. On March 10, though, Birdsong looked electric. Along with pitching a scoreless inning with a strikeout, Birdsong averaged 97.8 mph with his four-seam fastball and touched 99.6 mph, his hardest-tracked pitch as a professional.<\/p>\n

Little did he know that outing would be his last of the year.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI was excited mid-outing,\u201d Birdsong said. \u201cI was like, \u2018Oh, this feels right.\u2019 And then, it just obviously didn\u2019t go my way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Birdsong described feeling \u201ca pop, like a rip\u201d when he threw his penultimate pitch of the outing. An MRI revealed a Grade 2 forearm strain and UCL sprain. He sought the dreaded second opinion from Dr. Keith Meister and ultimately elected for surgery. Birdsong underwent the procedure on March 25, the same day that the Giants opened their season against the New York Yankees.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t happy, obviously,\u201d Birdsong said. \u201cI think I could be of help. I would like to think I could be good help up there. But, at the same time, hopefully I come back better and ready to go with a clear mind. I wasn\u2019t throwing well in spring training, but at the same time, my last outing was probably my best outing until my elbow went on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Michael Kors and UPS are playing hot potato with my $687 refund \u2014 how do I win?<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite losing all of 2026 and likely some of 2027, lockout permitting, Birdsong said he\u2019s in a good mental space. He talked with Logan Webb and Robbie Ray about recovering from Tommy John surgery during spring training, and the veterans advised Birdsong to take things step by step.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou\u2019ve got to have a positive mindset about it,\u201d Birdsong said. \u201cYou can\u2019t sit there and be like, \u2018Oh, hopefully I come back however I\u2019m supposed to be,\u2019 and all this stuff. It could take me a whole other year after this just to get back to where I need to be. You never know. That\u2019s happened. I mean, Keaton (Winn). Keaton took another year to find his stuff back. He still had the velo, but now, when he comes out of the bullpen, it\u2019s electric.\u201d<\/p>\n

Birdsong is rehabbing at Papago six days per week, arriving around 12:30 p.m. and leaving around 4 p.m., depending on the day. Birdsong isn\u2019t scheduled to throw until September, but will start working with plyoballs in two to three weeks.<\/p>\n

During the downtime, Birdsong has often gone camping up north in Payson, Arizona with other members of the organization, the list including former first-rounder Reggie Crawford.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to get to the offseason because that\u2019s when I get to start throwing,\u201d Birdsong said. \u201cI know there\u2019s a lot of season left, but I know I\u2019m going to be here. It\u2019s fun to watch and root them on. At the same time, I\u2019d love to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n

One looming wrinkle in Birdsong\u2019s recovery is Major League Baseball\u2019s impending lockout, which is widely expected to begin when the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires on Dec. 1. Since Birdsong is on the Giants\u2019 40-man roster, he wouldn\u2019t be allowed to train at Papago. Birdsong has previously been opposed to working at training facilities but is now willing to explore that option.<\/p>\n

\u201cIdeally, I come back and my arm\u2019s stronger than it ever has been, body\u2019s stronger than it ever has been and I\u2019m ready to go as soon as the season starts, whenever that may be,\u201d Birdsong said.<\/p>\n

Read more Our happy place: Why Bay Area residents love their backyards<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hayden Birdsong underwent the surgery in March and isn’t expected to throw until September<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nSF Giants’ Birdsong shares update on his Tommy John recovery - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3654\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SF Giants’ Birdsong shares update on his Tommy John recovery - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hayden Birdsong underwent the surgery in March and isn't expected to throw until September\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3654\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-03T14:38:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3654#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3654\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"SF Giants’ Birdsong shares update on his Tommy John recovery\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-03T14:38:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3654\"},\"wordCount\":843,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3654#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/6fff26198dd4239747cec77161f6a076.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3654#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3654\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3654\",\"name\":\"SF Giants’ Birdsong shares update on his Tommy John recovery - 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