2022 SF Giants 2nd-round pick has stellar debut in Triple-A

The SF Giants have a lot of depth when it comes to starting pitching, and that became even more clear recently. Carson Whisenhunt, one of the top prospects in the organization, had his debut in Triple-A with the Sacramento River Cats on Sunday and he looked great.

2022 SF Giants 2nd-round pick has stellar debut in Triple-A

Whisenhunt is the No.3 prospect in the Giants organization according to MLB's 2024 prospect rankings. At the age of 23, he is one of the more exciting prospects in baseball. In Sunday's Triple-A game that he pitched in, he proved why there is so much hype surrounding him.

Whisenhunt started the game and only pitched three innings, but he looked phenomenal. He had 6 strikeouts and only surrendered one hit to the opposing team while giving up no walks. He also showcased his filthy changeup, his strongest pitch, which garnered a swing and miss every time he threw it in the contest.

It was a great debut for the young left-hander. He was originally supposed to debut in Triple-A last season, but an injury prevented him from doing so. His career minor league numbers are small but impressive. In just over 69 innings pitched he has a 2.08 ERA with 103 strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.98.

It is a small sample size, but it is clear why many in the organization are high on Whisenhunt. It seems likely that we will see Whisenhunt debut at some point in 2024. Of course, in a perfect world, the rotation of Logan Webb, Blake Snell, Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks, and Keaton Winn will remain healthy and Alex Cobb and Robbie Ray will return without complications. However, injuries will happen so the Giants will almost certainly need to draw upon some of their young arms this season.

We saw Daulton Jefferies get knocked around in his Giants debut for the team, so it would not be surprising if we see the Giants lean more on Kai-Wei Teng, Mason Black, and potentially Whisenhunt should they need a spot start throughout the year.

The Giants probably want Whisenhunt to develop a little bit more before they promote him to the big leagues. He is very green with experience, only pitching 62 innings in college and he now has 69.1 frames to his ledger as a pro. The Giants will want him to keep building up innings and arm strength. That said, if he keeps pitching the way he did in his 2024 debut, then the Giants may be forced to promote him sooner rather than later.