San Francisco – Spencer Bivens is trying to do his best. His performance today in the Giants’ 10-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, was a glimpse into what he can do.
With a runner on second in the third inning, Bivens struck out Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani to end the inning. For the encore? He struck out Ohtani again in the fifth with a man on second and two outs. Both strikeouts, swinging, by the way. And both times, Bivens let out a little emotion on the mound.
“I just wanted to do my job and help the guys out,” Bivens said after earning the win in his first career big-league start for the Giants. “I just wanted to get ahead of [Ohtani] and kind of hit some spots and execute. I’ve never faced him before, so I’m happy to succeed.”
Biven’s journey has been a bumpy one. After earning his first MLB career win against a rival team, Biven wanted to relish in this moment for just a little while.
“I didn’t think about (the journey getting to San Francisco) at all,” he said. “Today, I know that I’ve been thinking about it like this: I’m a major leaguer. So, I try not to think too much, day by day. I’m just blessed to be here.”
Bivens, who just turned 30 on June 28, had to wait, grind, and bet on himself. His pro career started in 2019 in France for a team called the Lions de Savigny de-sur-Orge, a professional team that plays almost half an hour outside of Paris.
The next year he signed with Kotlářka Praha of the Czech Baseball Extraliga, another European professional team, however, he was unable to play for them due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. He went on to play independent baseball back in the U.S. with the Steel City Slammin’ Sammies of the Washington League.
Then he headed to the Frontier League to play with the West Virginia Power and the Gastonia Honey Hunters before finally having his contract bought by the Giants in 2022. Two years later, he made his debut with the Giants in their series against the Angels, pitching three innings, allowing a run on a hit with four strikeouts, earning his first, official, major-league win.
His parents made the trip for his big-league debut in Anaheim. But his first career start? This was the big one for him, even though his parents didn’t make it to Oracle Park this time.
“The first career start — I’ve been waiting my whole life for that and it’s really special,” said Bivens.
Bivens added that his preparation for his call-up with the Giants and his first start started back in the winter, in Mexico.
“Just being in high-leverage situations all the time,” he explained. “I just feel very confident in my ability and just to be able to handle the moment.”
Since getting called up by San Francisco, Bivens is 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 14 innings on the mound.
“He’s pretty confident in what he does,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said of Blevins after the win on Sunday. “He’s got a much better pitch mix now and we have a lot of faith in him.
“He’s rewarding us almost every time he goes out there.”
As far as his parents coming to his games going forward, he said in his post-game interview that his mom is coming to the series in Atlanta. And for those keeping count, Bivens is 1-0 with his parents in the stands 1-1 without.
Photo by SFGiants/Twitter
