Hayden Birdsong's first six starts with the Giants were promising, to say the least.
In fact, the 22-year-old made history in the process.
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But Tuesday's start against the Washington Nationals didn't quite pan out the same way. Birdsong gave up seven runs in only two-plus innings as the Giants fell 11-5 in the nation's capital despite a four-run first inning.
Despite the rough outing, neither Birdsong nor manager Bob Melvin seem overly concerned about what it means going forward. Instead, the general sentiment appears to be something along the lines of, "Yes, that wasn't great, but let's learn from it and move on."
"He's been good for us," Melvin told reporters, shrugging off the idea he'd have a major conversation with his young starter after Birdsong's first bad appearance. "So it's just about, 'Don't worry about that one. You've been good enough times to where you're going to be out there again. We have confidence in you, and you have good stuff.' "
The stuff has never been the issue for Birdsong -- his command has been the more pressing concern.
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In 13 starts across Double-A and Triple-A to start the season, Birdsong averaged over four walks per nine innings. After three more walks in two innings Tuesday, the rookie righty now has a BB/9 above five over 32.1 innings in the majors (the MLB league average is around 3.1 BB/9).
All three Nationals that drew a walk from Birdsong would proceed to score, which he cited as a major takeaway from his disappointing performance.
"It's not just the walks, just getting ahead early," Birdsong expressed postgame; he threw a first-pitch strike to only six of the 14 batters he faced.
In particular, Birdsong's lack of control over his breaking pitches proved to be detrimental.
"There are times that he's been scattered with his fastball, but his offspeed stuff he's been able to throw for strikes and keep [hitters] off balance," Melvin explained. "Today he just really didn't have command of anything early on."
Birdsong had a similar self-assessment of his secondary pitches, particularly his curveball -- his best pitch thus far in the majors.
"I just wasn't landing it. Wasn't throwing it where I needed to," Birdsong acknowledged. "They were taking the ones that were down.
"Can't really complain about it. Things happen, sometimes you don't have your best stuff, and you got to work through that and get better at that. So, that's what we'll be working on."
Unfortunately for Birdsong, he got beat even when he made the pitch he wanted. He correctly located a 1-2 fastball to CJ Abrams in the second inning, placing it well above the letters at 96 mph.
But Abrams deposited that pitch into the left-field bleachers anyway. At 4.24 feet above the ground, it was the highest pitch hit for a home run this season.
Sometimes, it's just not your day. Melvin and Birdsong weren't even mad about it after the game -- more in awe.
"[It's been] a long time since I've seen that," Melvin declared. "Certainly not a bad pitch if you're trying to elevate and get a swing, but gave [Abrams] his credit."
"I have no idea how he hit that ball," Birdsong lamented with a laugh. "Good for him. Guy can hit. ... Not very many people are probably hitting that ball. It was impressive."
Even with his frustrating start, Birdsong continued to show impressive composure for his age both during and after the game. That modest attitude could be a positive sign as he looks to rebound in his next outing, which is likely to come on Sunday at Oracle Park against the Detroit Tigers.