SF Giants pitcher's highly touted pitch abandoning him helped lead to demotion

When the SF Giants called up their top pitching prospect, Carson Whisenhunt, the main thing people talked about was how good his changeup is. So far in his brief big league career, that pitch just has not been as effective as anticipated.

The top pitching prospect in the organization was just sent back down to Triple-A and Tyler Fitzgerald was recalled. It seems with Whisenhunt's struggles they feel he need a little more seasoning in the minors.

Whisenhunt only made three starts after being called up and it was a bit of a mixed bag. His debut outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates got off to a rough start but he calmed things down and pitched five innings allowing four earned runs.

His second outing against the New York Mets was phenomenal as he pitched into the sixth inning and only allowed one earned run against a stout lineup. However, his most recent start against the Washington Nationals was not great as he gave up three solo home runs in four innings of work.

Carson Whisenhunt still needs to find his changeup with SF Giants

In total, Whisenhunt has a 1-1 record with a 5.02 ERA in 14 and 1/3 innings pitched. He has struck out 12 batters while walking 7 and has allowed five home runs already.

Whisenhunt is still a young pitcher learning the ropes so naturally there are going to be some bumps in the road. Yet, it is the fact that his changeup has been a bit faulty that gives a little cause for concern.

San Francisco Chronicle reporter Shayna Rubin noted Whisenhunt's changeup was lackluster in his last start on social media and the numbers back it up.

Opponents are batting .273 against his changeup with a .636 slugging percentage. Two hitters have taken him deep on his changeup. He does have four strikeouts with it, but it has not been the reliable put-away pitch that was expected.

When players have hit his changeup hard, it seems he is just getting too much height on it to where it hangs in the middle of the zone rather than ending up around the batter's knees as it is supposed to.

Perhaps in the minor leagues Whisenhunt's changeup was nasty enough against lesser competition that he could get away with mistakes like that. Now, in the big leagues, with opposing players already knowing his changeup is his calling card, he has to learn how to be more fine with it and locate it better.

He is obviously still learning so getting this experience is good for him even if there are growing pains. With the Giants already looking ahead to 2026 in some respects, it would have made sense to have Whisenhunt in the rotation the rest of the year so he could grow and learn. Yet, back to the minors he goes

The changeup should come around, it just will take time for the young lefty to adjust to big league hitters who take advantage of mistakes more often than not.

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