CHICAGO >> Kyle Harrison was never himself during spring training, tasked with recovering from both a nagging shoulder injury and an illness-induced weight loss. Thus, he didn’t make the team out of spring training. But a month into the season, Harrison is back up with the Giants.

As a reliever.

“Definitely something new, but I’m going to embrace it,” Harrison said. “I’m here for a reason. I want to help this team win. They thought this is the best way I could help this team win and I agree right now. We’re going to go have fun in the bullpen and get guys out.”Harrison, who was recalled after Sunday’s 9-3 win, begins his time as a reliever with almost no bullpen experience as a professional. The left-hander has never pitched out of the bullpen in the majors and has only done so three times in the minors, all three appearances coming in 2022. Manager Bob Melvin said Harrison won’t have a specific role and that “anything’s kind of on the table for him.”

“If we need him for an inning, it’s going to be an inning. If we need him for three, it’s going to be three. He’s open to all that,” Melvin said. “We haven’t told him any specifics about, ‘This is when you’re going to be in the game’ basically like we did with Hayden (Birdsong). There could be some of that. It just depends on what the bullpen looks like on a particular day.”

Harrison isn’t the only 23-year-old starter who’s currently in San Francisco’s bullpen.

Birdsong, who started 16 games last season as a rookie, cracked the Opening Day roster as a reliever and dominated in the role, posting a 1.00 ERA with 19 strikeouts over 18 innings. Melvin described having two young starters in the bullpen as “very unusual,” adding that Birdsong’s success was a factor in Harrison’s promotion.

“I’ve been in his ear here and there,” Harrison said of Birdsong.

Harrison entered spring training with incumbent status after ranking second on the Giants last season in starts (24) and innings (124 1/3), but he was never truly in the competition for the final rotation.

Along with trying to fully recover from last year’s left shoulder injury — an ailment that impacted his mechanics in conjunction with an ankle injury — Harrison got sick a week before spring training and lost roughly 15 pounds. The Giants, in response, delayed Harrison’s spring debut.

When Harrison did take the mound, he allowed eight runs over 6 2/3 innings of Cactus League play, his velocity noticeably dipping in the process.