SF Giants lefty pitching prospect identified as 2025 Rookie of the Year candidate

MLB Pipeline put together a fun exercise where a group of writers named a 2025 Rookie of the Year candidate for each team. For the SF Giants, lefty pitching prospect Carson Whisenhunt was identified as the candidate.

SF Giants lefty pitching prospect identified as 2025 Rookie of the Year candidate

Whisenhunt was selected in the second round of the 2022 draft out of East Carolina University. He missed the entire 2022 college season due to a PED-related suspension, so there was some level of projection that went into this pick.

The pitching prospect returned to the mound in 2023 and rose quickly up the minor league ladder and the prospect rankings. He appeared briefly with San Jose and then made six starts apiece with Eugene and Richmond.

Overall, Whisenhunt tallied a 2.45 ERA with 83 strikeouts and 23 walks in 58.2 innings split across three levels. This led to him making the top prospect lists, ranking as high as No. 68 according to Baseball Prospectus before the 2024 season.

The Giants hoped that the left-handed hurler would crack the rotation at some point in 2024 along with Hayden Birdsong, Landen Roupp, and Mason Black. Birdsong, Black, and Roupp all debuted with the Giants in 2024.

Whisenhunt spent the entire 2024 season in Triple-A and that level proved to be a tough challenge. Overall, he recorded a 5.42 ERA, 4.66 FIP, 1.61 WHIP, 11.6 K/9, and a 2.55 SO/W rate across 104.2 innings with the Sacramento River Cats.

The ERA might not tell the whole story but there were some positives. The first positive is that he eclipsed 100 innings for the first time. Whisenhunt threw 62 innings for East Carolina University in 2021 followed by missing the entire college season in 2022 and accumulating 58.2 innings in 2023. The increased workload was an encouraging sign for someone who has handled a relatively light workload up until this point.

Secondly, the 24-year-old pitcher was a much better pitcher at home than on the road. Many of the ballparks in the Pacific Coast League can be a tough environment for pitchers due to the high elevation, thin air, and ABS system. These factors all lean in favor of the hitter.

That was especially true for Whisenhunt who pitched to a 2.34 ERA at home compared to an 8.31 ERA on the road. Sacramento's home ballpark, Sutter Health Park, tends to be one of the fairer ballparks in the league.

Lastly, while performance may not always be indicative of development, the lefty pitcher began to show more confidence in a slurvy breaking pitch to add to his fastball-changeup mix. The development of a third pitch will be what sets the ceiling for Whisenhunt with the changeup being arguably the best in the system but he will need a third offering to be able to stick as a starter.

Will Whisenhunt earn Rookie of the Year votes in 2025? That remains to be seen but he is still viewed as one of the organization's best prospects despite a seemingly down year with Sacramento. Though, that does not tell the whole story.