Giants reportedly claiming RHP Duncan Davitt off waivers from Braves

The San Francisco Giants are reportedly claiming right-hander Duncan Davitt off waivers from the Atlanta Braves, with the transaction first reflected on the MLB.com transaction tracker. In a corresponding move, the Giants are designating right-hander Spencer Bivens, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Neither club has announced the waiver claim as of the reporting.

What happened

Per Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors, the Giants are expected to add Davitt to their roster through the waiver wire, with Bivens moving in the other direction via a designation for assignment. The transaction surfaced on the MLB.com tracker before either organization issued a formal statement — which is how these things tend to go in September, the transaction page arriving well ahead of any press release.

The mechanics are standard waiver-claim procedure: a player designated for assignment must be traded, released, or placed on waivers within seven days, and any club can submit a claim during the 48-hour window. The claiming team takes on the player's contract, and the player moves to the new organization's 40-man roster. Because the Giants are operating in the expanded September window — active rosters can carry up to 28 players from September 1 through the end of the regular season — the roster math is somewhat more forgiving than it would have been a month ago.

Why it matters

The Giants have been active on the waiver wire in recent days. A week removed from claiming right-hander Joel Kuhnel off waivers from the Brewers — with Pavlovic noting at the time that Kuhnel is out of options and would occupy an active roster spot — San Francisco has continued to cycle through available arms. The club also claimed infielder Brett Harris off waivers from the Red Sox earlier in the same stretch, optioning him to Triple-A.

The Davitt claim fits the same pattern: a team eliminated from both the division race and the Wild Card race, working through September with an eye toward evaluating depth options. For a club sitting 27 games back in the NL West and 16.5 games relative to the Wild Card cut line, the waiver wire is less about October positioning and more about getting a look at pieces that might matter in future planning. September rosters are, in this sense, a long audition with a predetermined curtain call.

Bivens, meanwhile, enters the standard seven-day DFA window. Under league rules, the Giants will have that period to trade him, release him, or expose him to waivers themselves.

Is Davitt joining the active roster immediately?

That has not been specified in the reporting. What the MLB.com transaction tracker reflects is the claim itself; the precise roster construction — whether Davitt goes directly to the active roster or is handled differently — has not been detailed by either Franco's report or Pavlovic's corresponding-move note. Given the September roster expansion, the Giants have more flexibility than usual, but the specific deployment has not been reported.

The numbers

The Giants carry a record of 62-85 (.422), sitting fourth in the NL West. They are eliminated from both the division race and Wild Card contention, with their Wild Card ranking sitting 11th, 16.5 games relative to the cut line. The club has, however, won three straight — a modest streak that at least provides some texture to the final weeks of what has been a difficult season.

The broader context for that difficulty has been well-documented in recent Posterior Wire coverage: the 2026 Giants have been flagged as on pace for one of the largest gaps between actual wins and BaseRuns-projected wins of any MLB team since 2002, suggesting a season shaped heavily by variance. That backdrop makes the September roster churn feel less like a retooling and more like an extended audition — which, for a 62-85 club, is exactly what it should be.

Where the club stands

San Francisco is 62-85 (.422), fourth in the NL West, and 27 games behind the division leader. Both elimination markers — division and Wild Card — are noted in the club's current standing. The three-game winning streak is the most optimistic number on the board right now.

The Giants host the San Diego Padres at Oracle Park for a three-game series beginning Friday, September 11, with Anthony Molina projected to start opposite Robbie Ray. Cesar Perdomo — who recorded his first MLB quality start during his debut week with the club, per recent Posterior Wire reporting — is lined up for Saturday against Michael King. Logan Webb closes the series Sunday against Nick Pivetta.

That rotation alignment means the bullpen will be called upon in its usual September capacity, which is to say: frequently, and with a roster that has been reshuffled more than once in the past week. Davitt's arrival, if the claim is completed as reported, adds another arm to that mix heading into a series against a Padres club that has its own October ambitions to sort out.

What we don't know yet

Neither the Giants nor the Braves had announced the transaction as of the reporting by Franco and Pavlovic. The claim is reflected on the MLB.com tracker and attributed to Pavlovic for the corresponding Bivens designation, but it remains a report rather than a club announcement. The specific role Davitt would fill — active roster, depth option, or otherwise — has not been detailed. Similarly, Bivens's next destination is unknown; the DFA process leaves several outcomes open, including a trade, a release, or exposure to waivers.

What to watch

A formal announcement from one or both clubs would bring the transaction out of tracker-and-report territory and into the record. Beyond that, the Bivens situation bears watching over the next seven days — whether he clears waivers, is claimed elsewhere, or is released will tell a small but complete story about his market value at this stage of the season.

More broadly, the Giants have now added multiple arms through the waiver wire in the span of a week, continuing to reshape a bullpen that will be asked to carry a significant load through the final weeks of a long September. Which pieces from this late-season shuffle factor into the organization's thinking beyond 2026 is a question that won't be answered until well after the final out — but the answers, such as they are, are being gathered right now, one waiver claim at a time.