San Francisco Giants pitcher Hayden Birdsong #60 delivers a pitch during the spring training game against the Cleveland Guardians at Goodyear Ballpark on March 10, 2026 in Goodyear, Arizona. (John Medina Special to the Mercury News)

By Stephen Ruderman

GOODYEAR AZ–The Giants’ prospects showed their worth in San Francisco’s 5-4 win over the Cleveland Guardians at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear AZ on Tuesday.

Drew Gilbert finally returned after missing two weeks due to a left shoulder impingement. He struck out swinging in his first at-bat in the top of the third inning. Though hey, he was a bit rusty, and he was up against Guardians’ ace, Tanner Bibee.

Gilbert grounded out in the top of the fourth, but he singled the other way to left in the top of the seventh. Not a bad return for the Giants’ eccentric young outfielder.

Speaking of Giants’ prospects who hit for contact and don’t strike out much, catcher Jesus Rodriguez was back in the lineup after his big 5-for-7 weekend. 

Rodriguez made a nice two-strike adjustment against Bibee, and lined a high fastball for a base-hit into left-center field in the top of the first. As center-fielder Steven Kwan went over to field it, Rodriguez decided to take a chance, and was able to hustle out a double.

Unfortunately, Rodriguez struck out his next two times. Still, his double in the first was quite impressive, and any team will love a guy who will do anything to take the extra 90 feet. The fight for the Giants’ backup catcher’s rule between Rodriguez and Daniel Susac will be an interesting one.

As for other big prospects, Bryce Eldridge, the biggest of them all, went 1-for-2 with a walk.

Seymour has strong four innings in first start:

Carson Seymour took the ball in his fourth appearance and first start of the spring.

Seymour gave up a run and just two hits over four innings. He walked one, and struck out three.

Birdsong has much-needed solid inning:

Hayden Birdsong pitched a much-needed scoreless inning in the bottom of the sixth.

It is no secret that the last seven and a half months have been a nightmare for Birdsong. After not being able to record a single out after facing six batters in his start against the Braves in Atlanta on July 21 of last year, Birdsong did not pitch again in the big leagues the rest of the season. 

To make matters worse, Birdsong’s struggles continued this spring. He gave up five runs over just a third of an inning to the Seattle Mariners when he started the Giants’ cactus league opener on Feb. 21 in Peoria. He then gave up three runs in a relief inning against the Colorado Rockies on Feb. 26 in Scottsdale. 

Birdsong made his first appearance in 13 days when he was brought in for the bottom of the sixth. It was no easy task, as he immediately had to face one of the best hitters in baseball in Steven Kwan. Birdsong got out to a quick 0-2 count, but Kwan worked the count full. Kwan then fouled off the next two, but Birdsong got him to ground out to second.

That was a big break for Birdsong, but he faced trouble when Bryan Rocchio immediately followed up Kwan’s strikeout with a double. Birdsong then faced another dangerous hitter in Jose Ramirez, and struck him out. Chase DeLauter grounded out to second, and Birdsong ended up with a scoreless inning.

When you come to the ballpark, you may see something you’ve never seen before:

You know the old saying. When you come to the ballpark, you may see something you’ve never seen before. Well the 4,844 in attendance here at Goodyear Ballpark had two such instances Tuesday.

The Giants had a runner at second in Jared Oliva with two outs in the top of the third with Jesus Rodriguez at the plate. Oliva broke for third, and the throw from Guardians’ catcher David Fry hit Rodriguez’s bat and went out of play.

Since Rodriguez had stood still in his place in the batter’s box, Home Plate Umpire Nic Lentz correctly did not call interference. Of course, since the throw ended up going out of play, Oliva was awarded home plate.

Now, had Rodriguez and/or his bat moved while Fry was throwing and the same thing happened, Rodriguez would have been called out for interference, and Oliva would have been returned to second base.

Then with one out and no one on in the top of the eighth, Grant McCray hit a ground ball that hit off the glove of Guardians’ first-baseman Juan Brito. The ball ricochetted over to pitcher Pedro Avila, who rolled over to the bag at first for one of the most incredible 3-1 putouts you will ever see. 

Even in Spring Training, you may see something you’ve never seen before when you came to the park. Tuesday, we were fortunate enough to see two of them.

Other notes:

• The Giants scored two more unearned runs off Bibee in the top of the fourth.

• Tyler Fitzgerald made it a three-run fourth for the Giants with a two-run home run down the left field line off Guardians’ reliever Steven Perez.