Giants' RHP prospect takes latest step in long baseball journey

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- “Do you have time?”

That was Spencer Bivens’ response when he was asked to recount his improbable baseball journey, a long, winding road that took him from France to the independent leagues and finally to the Giants, who invited the 29-year-old reliever to Major League Spring Training on Tuesday.

“If I told you three years ago that I’d be doing this, I don’t think anyone would have believed me,” Bivens said. “That was pretty cool. It’s hard for me to put into words. It’s wild.”

Bivens has been the epitome of a journeyman over the past six years. After going undrafted out of Rogers State University in 2018, Bivens began his professional career with the Lions de Savigny-sur-Orge, a French Division I club based in the outskirts of Paris. The 6-foot-5 right-hander pitched well enough to land another offer to play for Kotlářka Praha in the Czech Republic in 2020, but he was forced to return stateside when the pandemic shut everything down.

Undeterred, Bivens continued to chase his dream in the independent ranks, catching on with the Washington Wild Things of the Frontier League and then the Gastonia Honey Hunters of the Atlantic League. Frustrated by his lack of progress, Bivens decided to go all-in after the 2021 season, adding about 25 pounds of muscle over the winter and streamlining his repertoire to more of a sinker-sweeper combination.

When he returned for his second season with Gastonia in 2022, his fastball velocity jumped up to the mid-90s, catching the attention of the Giants, who became aware of Bivens’ improved stuff thanks in part to a new data-sharing agreement between the Atlantic League and the Majors. Bivens’ efforts finally paid off when he received a call from Giants director of player development Kyle Haines, who offered him a Minor League contract that May.

“It was amazing,” Bivens said. “It was a day I’ll never forget.”

Bivens recorded a 3.95 ERA with 48 strikeouts over a combined 27 appearances between Single-A San Jose and Triple-A Sacramento in 2022, his first official year in affiliated baseball. The Giants got him some additional work by sending him to the Arizona Fall League, where he earned Fall Star honors after logging an 0.87 ERA over 10 1/3 innings. He finished last season with Double-A Richmond and continued to hone his craft by playing winter ball in Mexico, where he posted a 1.69 ERA over 27 outings for the Tomateros de Culiacán.

The Giants considered including Bivens in their initial list of 25 non-roster invitees this year, but they had limited locker space and wanted to ensure they could keep all their players in the same clubhouse throughout the spring. Still, Bivens was brought over from the Minor League side as a backup pitcher and impressed the coaching staff by striking out four over 2 1/3 innings in his first three Cactus League outings.

The Giants found themselves with a handful of empty lockers after making their first two waves of cuts, so they decided to officially bring Bivens to his first big league camp on Tuesday.

“He’s done well,” manager Bob Melvin said. “They’ve really liked him. I think there was a point where we were thinking about him regardless. … It’s great to have him here. He’s a good kid.”

It’s another step forward in a remarkable path for Bivens, but he knows he still has some work to do to reach his dream destination.

“I always knew just to believe in myself, no matter what anybody said,” Bivens said. “Just to see it start to pay off a little bit is really nice. It just tells me I’m going in the right direction.”

Webb’s day
Logan Webb wasn’t at his best in his third Cactus League start on Tuesday, giving up five runs over 3 1/3 innings in an 13-8 win over the Brewers at Scottsdale Stadium. The 27-year-old right-hander struck out six and walked none, though he surrendered seven hits, including a solo homer to Rhys Hoskins in the third.

“I was just leaving stuff over the middle of the plate the whole time,” Webb said. “I’m happy with the strike throwing. I did a pretty good job of that today. It just wasn’t quality strikes, I would say.”

While Webb has been pleased with his slider -- a pitch that he’s struggled to get a feel for in previous springs -- he’s still searching for his changeup, which was one of the most valuable pitches in baseball in 2023. The offering had a +28 run value last year, the second-highest mark in the Majors behind only Gerrit Cole’s four-seam fastball.

“It’s a constant battle with yourself to find every pitch,” Webb said. “Every year is different, to be honest with you.”