Opening Day is tomorrow, and the San Francisco Giants still have a handful of players they need to trim from the roster before announcing the 26-player roster. But on Tuesday, a few hours before their final exhibition game of the preseason, the Giants took a step closer to finalizing things, by optioning a quartet of right-handed pitchers to AAA Sacramento: Spencer Bivens, Trevor McDonald, Tristan Beck, and Carson Seymour. In addition to those four, outfielders Drew Gilbert and Will Brennan were
also optioned.
Bivens is the most surprising name on the list, and a reminder that different coaching staffs value different players. He broke camp with the team in 2025, and spent the entirety of the season on the active roster, leading many to believe that he was a lock for this year’s bullpen. It turns out that wasn’t the case.
It would seem that his role will likely go to JT Brubaker. Last year, Bivens was more good than great (4.00 ERA, 3.70 FIP, 6.8 strikeouts per nine innings, 2.8 walks per nine innings), but amassed a lot of value due to his ability to enter in any situation and eat a lot of innings. He made 54 appearances out of the bullpen — a mark that ranked fourth among pitchers in the Major Leagues who didn’t make any starts.
Similarly, his Spring Training was also more good than great, and seemed to reinforce his roll as a valuable piece of bullpen depth, but not a weapon. With Tony Vitello replacing Bob Melvin, it seems the valuation of Bivens has shifted a bit, though he’ll surely still play a role this year.
As for McDonald, he had a breakout camp early on, and was certainly trending towards making the roster, especially after Hayden Birdsong went down with an injury. But after three scoreless outings to start the spring — during which time he gave up just two hits in six innings — McDonald hit a wall. In his next/final three games, he gave up 10 hits — including four home runs — and nine earned runs in just 5.2 innings, culminating in a Spring Training finale in which he was unable to complete an inning. So back to the Minors he goes, where he’ll prepare to rejoin the squad, perhaps in a relief role, or perhaps as a the next man up in the rotation.
For Seymour, his optioning was a little less surprising. The power righty showed some really nice things this spring, en route to a 2.92 ERA and a 3.74 FIP, but he never felt in very strong consideration for a bullpen job, and his fate was likely sealed during Monday’s exhibition win, in which he gave up four hits and two runs in an inning of work. But like Bivens and McDonald, we can expect to see Seymour in the Majors plenty this year.
Beck’s optioning was also not surprising. He struggled a bit last year, with a 4.75 ERA and a 6.11 FIP, and didn’t look sharp during Cactus League. He was strong in an inning of work on Monday night, though, and is valuable depth who could be called upon during the season.
Seymour and Bivens both have two option years remaining, while McDonald and Beck have only one.
As for the outfielders, there’s nothing surprising there. Gilbert seemed like a favorite to land the fourth outfielder role when Spring Training began, but he was hampered by a shoulder injury, and never found his rhythm when he returned, hitting just .265/.324/.324. Brennan impressed, but it became apparent over the last week than NRI Jared Oliva had surpassed him on the depth chart. Both players will be everyday outfielders in Sacramento, and will surely provide depth at the Major League level at some point in the season. Brennan has two option years remaining, while the ever-exuberant Gilbert still has all three.
Notably, with Gilbert, Brennan, and Grant McCray optioned, the Giants have committed to not having a left-handed player off the bench. The only outfielders left in camp (save for the starters) are righties Oliva, Luis Matos, and Jerar Encarnación. It would appear that those three are fighting for two spots, which would finalize the bench. That’s assuming that both infielders left in camp — Casey Schmitt and Christian Koss — make the roster, and that Daniel Susac beats out Eric Haase for the backup catcher role.
With these six cuts, the Giants are now down to 33 players in camp, though that number is functionally 31, as Reiver Sanmartin and Sam Hentges will be added to the Injured List soon. Five other players will need to be optioned, reassigned, placed on the IL, or waived between now and Wednesday morning.
