Two San Francisco Giants Rookies Among Hottest In Baseball

The San Francisco Giants have been playing well as of late and a big part of that is due to their star rookies.

Aug 6, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; San Francisco Giants short stop Tyler Fitzgerald (49) fields a ground ball against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park. / Rafael Suanes-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco Giants are 8-2 over their last ten games and have seen great performances from players like Blake Snell, Matt Chapman and Robbie Ray. However, a big part of their recent success is in large part due to two of their rookies, Tyler Fitzgerald and Hayden Birdsong. MLB Pipeline named them among the ten hottest rookies over the last month.

Tyler Fitzgerald was recently named National League Rookie of the Month for July, and he continues to make history early in August. The shortstop hit yet another home run on Monday, putting him in elite company in the history books, both league wide and for the Giants. Pipeline ranked him as the second hottest rookie of the past month.

The 26-year-old became the fourth shortstop in history to hit 11 home runs in a 17 game stretch, joining Alex Rodriguez, Troy Tulowitzki and Trea Turner, who most recently accomplished the feat in 2023. The last time any Giants player had such a hot streak was in 2003, when Barry Bonds did it in the middle of a 45 homer season.

Since the beginning of July, 20 games, Fitzgerald has been on another planet. The shortstop is slashing .343/.403/.886 with a whopping 1.288 OPS.

This elite month has not only put him in rarified company, but it has boosted him all the way to 2.1 WAR, which is now good for fifth on the Giants, and just ahead of starting catcher Patrick Bailey.

The other Giants rookie among this group is Hayden Birdsong, who came in at number nine on the list. Birdsong flew threw the minors to make his debut just two years after being drafted and has already earned a spot in the rotation.

Through his first six starts, Birdsong has been tremendous. The 22-year-old has thrown 30.1 innings, while striking out 11.3 batters per nine with an ERA that sits at 2.97. Birdsong himself has also joined an exclusive club, one that just began this season.

After his start on July 27 against the Colorado Rockies in which he struckout eight and earned the win, he joined Paul Skenes as the only two pitchers since 1901 to have a 3-0 record and strikeout more than 11 batters per nine through their first six career starts.

In a short period of time, Hayden Birdsong has made himself a staple in the Giants rotation.

The San Francisco Giants are fighting for a Wild Card spot and have gotten hot at the right time. If the rookies can continue to stay hot and the pitching stays at the level it has, they have a real shot in a crowded National League.