SF Giants 2022 second round pick to appear in Arizona Fall League soon

When the SF Giants released their list of prospects who were heading to the Arizona Fall League (AFL) this season, it included top outfield prospect Luis Matos and a pair of pitching prospects in Will Bednar and Carson Whisenhunt. Matos and Bednar have appeared in the AFL quite a bit this fall, but Whisenhunt was noticeably absent.

SF Giants 2022 second round pick to appear in Arizona Fall League soon

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle recently provided an update on the left-handed pitching prospect:

Whisenhunt missed the first part of the AFL season while being on the COVID list but he should be pitching soon. I got a chance to see a handful of AFL games last week and took a lot of footage of the Giants' prospects.

I was hoping to see Bednar and Whisenhunt but Bednar did not pitch while I was there and Whisenhunt was out of commission. I did see a lot of Matos and Giants first base prospect Logan Wyatt.

San Francisco selected Whisenhunt in the second round of the 2022 draft out of East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. North Carolina has become a feeder state to the Giants in recent years with prospects like Matt Frisbee, Patrick Bailey, Nick Swiney, and Will Wilson playing collegiately there. Of course, Madison Bumgarner is the most notable Giants prospect to come out of North Carolina.

In two seasons with East Carolina University, Whisenhunt registered a 4.21 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 11.6 K/9, and a 3.48 SO/W ratio in 14 total appearances. He was seen as a potential first round pick prior to the 2022 season but he missed the entire year after failing a PED test.

The 22-year-old made his pro debut for the Giants this summer, recording 7.2 scoreless frames with 14 strikeouts against only one walk across two minor league levels.

The Giants tried to make up for the lost season with Whisenhunt by sending him to the AFL. It is an odd assignment given that he was just drafted. The southpaw is the first Giants prospect since Joe Panik to be invited to the AFL in their draft year. Whisenhunt should be making his AFL debut soon.