San Francisco Giants' Landen Roupp Set to Make 1st MLB Start on 26th Birthday

Instead of leaning on Hayden Birdsong in Tuesday's series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers, the San Francisco Giants will have rookie reliever Landen Roupp take the mound in his place.

Sep 5, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Landen Roupp (65) pitches during the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Oracle Park. / Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

Landen Roupp turned 26 years old on Tuesday, and the right-handed reliever will get to celebrate the occasion by notching a major career milestone.

Hayden Birdsong was initially slated to serve as the San Francisco Giants' starting pitcher against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday. However, the team has changed course, pushing the 23-year-old rookie's next start to Thursday in order to give him more rest.

Blake Snell will still start Wednesday, while Roupp has been pegged as Birdsong's replacement for the series opener on Tuesday.

While Roupp will be making his 20th career MLB appearance on Tuesday, it will mark his first start in the big leagues.

Roupp is 0-0 with a 3.41 ERA, 1.358 WHIP, 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings and a 0.4 WAR across 31.2 innings this year.

The righty made San Francisco's Opening Day roster, but got optioned to Triple-A on May 1, then again on July 1. To that point in the season, Roupp had a 6.06 ERA, 1.653 WHIP, .262 batting average against and 8.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

Since returning to the active roster on Aug. 9, though, Roupp owns a 0.59 ERA, 1.043 WHIP, .135 batting average against and 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings. He did get sent down to the minors again on Aug. 24, but he was called back up on Aug. 27.

The Giants selected Roupp in the 12th round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of UNC Wilmington. He is 10-4 with a 2.50 ERA, 1.019 WHIP and 13.0 strikeouts per nine innings in his minor league career, making starts in 32 of his 52 appearances.

San Francisco is currently without Kyle Harrison, Keaton Winn, Robbie Ray and Jordan Hicks, shortening up what was supposed to be one of the game's top pitching staffs. While Snell and Logan Webb have largely held their own at the top of the rotation, the Giants have stumbled to 71-73 with less than three weeks remaining in the season.

First pitch from Oracle Park on Tuesday night is scheduled for 9:45 p.m. ET.

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