SF Giants’ rain troubles may be blessing in disguise after surprise roster move

The SF Giants got some bad luck on Tuesday in their series opener against the Atlanta Braves. Rain delayed the proceedings after an inning and a half and eventually postponed the game until Wednesday. While this presents some challenges for the pitching staff, it may end up being a blessing in disguise after the team announced Carson Whisenhunt will take the ball in Wednesday night’s game.

Whisenhunt has been absolutely dealing in Triple-A Sacramento this season. He has a 3.65 ERA in 69 innings on the season with 77 strikeouts and 30 walks. His ERA is the lowest among qualified starters in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

Giants fans got a taste of Whisenhunt last season when he was called up in the second half and he struggled a bit to the tune of a 5.01 ERA in five starts. He gave up six home runs and walked 12 batters while only striking out 16 in 23 and 1/3 innings pitched. Eventually he was sent back down to the minors.

Whisenhunt needs to improve upon struggles from last season

His signature pitch, the changeup, really seemed to abandon him in the big leagues last year. Opposing hitters seemed to be sitting on it and he was elevating that pitch way too much which led to a lot of loud contact as hitters had a .286 batting average against his changeup.

One hopes he’s figured that out after going back to the minors. He will need that pitch to be effective if he has any hopes of staying in the big leagues for a long time so it very well could make or break him.

Him being elevated to the roster may be a blessing in disguise because after watching Adrian Houser pitch yesterday before the game got delayed it really hammered home why he should not be in the starting rotation.

He has struggled so much this season for San Francisco with a 5.54 ERA in 13 starts. It seems insane the Giants gave him a two-year contract in the offseason and it’s becoming clear that he and Tyler Mahle, who could return from injury soon, should no longer be in the rotation.

If the Giants are to get anything positive out of this season it will come through their young players. Bryce Eldridge is proving that on a daily basis. The Giants need to make room in the rotation for Whisenhunt and Trevor McDonald because their development is way more important to the future of the franchise than watching Houser try to get through five innings while giving up three or more runs.

As our own Jeff Young noted on social media, Whisenhunt is the 27th man on the roster for Wednesday's game since it is a doubleheader. That means he could be sent back to Triple-A after the game but if he pitches well perhaps he will stay.

The rain postponement has given Whisenhunt an opportunity and if he can take advantage of it then maybe the Giants will keep him in the rotation and let him learn through all of the ups and downs the rest of the season.

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