SF Giants promote top pitching prospect to make MLB debut on Monday

The SF Giants have promoted their top pitching prospect Carson Whisenhunt to the big leagues. He will make his MLB debut on Monday by getting the start against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Oracle Park.

This move seemed imminent after Whisenhunt was recently scratched from a start in Triple-A. With Landen Roupp injured and Hayden Birdsong being demoted, the Giants have needed some help in their rotation and Whisenhunt made sense as a logical choice.

SF Giants promote Carson Whisenhunt who will start on Monday night

As the No. 3 overall prospect in the organization and the top pitching prospect, the 24-year-old left-hander has been looked at as a potential future piece of San Francisco's rotation for some time now. His best pitch is a devastating changeup that he has used to great effect in the minor leagues, so it will be interesting to see how it plays at the big league level.

In 18 starts this season with Triple-A Sacramento, Whisenhunt has an 8-5 record with a 4.42 ERA in 97 and 2/3 innings pitched. He has 86 strikeouts compared to 28 walks and a 1.33 WHIP.

His numbers have not been phenomenal, but the Giants do not have a lot of great options right now to pad out their rotation. They were forced into a bullpen game on Sunday against the New York Mets and it may have cost them as they had to push some of their relievers on short rest.

It will be interesting to see how long the Giants let Whisenhunt go on Monday. They are probably hoping they can get five innings out of him but if he fails to reach that mark they have Carson Seymour to piggyback off of him in the bullpen.

Whisenhunt has been seen as a potential trade chip for San Francisco so maybe if he has a good outing that could increase his value if the Giants are trying to make a big trade prior to the July 31sr deadline.

The fact remains that the Giants could really benefit from another proven starter in their rotation, and there are options out there for them to make a move.

For now, we will get to see how Whisenhunt fares in his first MLB action on Monday night against Pittsburgh. The bullpen is depleted so if he can deliver five innings that would be more than appreciated by manager Bob Melvin.

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