2025 stats: 65.2 IP, 21 G (10 GS), 4.80 ERA / 4.96 FIP, 1.492 WHIP, 22.8 K%, 12.4 BB%, 0.0 fWAR

Some of us will spend most of this offseason wondering what happened to Hayden Birdsong. It’s not just that the 6’4” 23-year old who captured hearts and minds last season only to lay a big ol’ egg this season, it’s that his spiral has been so expansive and destructive that he shouldn’t be considered part of the team’s plans for 2026…

At least in the rotation.

After a heckuva spring (0.75 ERA in 12 IP — just 1 start), a glut of stronger arms in the starting rotation pushed him to the bullpen, where he wound up being mostly good and sometimes excellent. He ended April with a 1.13 ERA in 16 IP (7 games; only 1 of which was a single inning). Now, reliever ERAs in a small sample can be misleading,

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