The San Francisco Giants will likely lose one of the aces from the 2024 season when Blake Snell hits free agency. It will be a big loss, inevitably, losing an ace caliber left hander. However, they do have a prospect in the minors that could help soften the blow. Although Carson Whisenhunt likely won’t be Blake Snell, they are a right handed heavy rotation and could use a lefty with some nasty stuff.
Whisenhunt was drafted in the second round of the 2022 draft out of East Carolina University. He is currently the number three Giants prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, as well as their top pitching prospect.
Although he did pitch in his draft season, it was only 7.2 innings. He didn’t allow a run and struck out 14 batters, a great start.
In 2023, he dealt with injury and threw 58.2 innings. In his 16 starts, he posted a 2.45 ERA with a whopping 83 strikeouts.
2024 was his first full season since being drafted. He made 27 starts, pitching in 109.2 innings. He had 141 strikeouts, but his ERA was 5.17.
The high ERA is not necessarily an indicator of how well he performed, however. In the Pacific Coast League, there are very few examples of pitchers having low ERAs. As a hitters league, pitchers stats are often inflated becuase of the hitting enviornment.
The thing that should excite people about Whisenhunt, though, is his stuff.
From the left side, the 24-year-old has a nasty arsenal. His fastball can reach 97 mph but sits in the mid-90s to go along with an improved curveball and a new cutter. To back that all up, he has one of the best changeups in the minors.
Pipeline rates his changeup as a 70 on the 20-80 scale, which means it is plus-plus.
“Whisenhunt owns one of the best changeups in the game, a plus-plus weapon that approaches hitters in the low 80s before tumbling at the plate. He can manipulate the depth and shape of his cambio and sells it with the same arm speed that he uses to produce 92-95 mph fastballs that top out at 97,” his scouting report says.
It’s his wipeout pitch that he uses to rack up all of those strikeouts.
With the likely loss of Blake Snell, as well as the potential loss of Robbie Ray should be opt out, Whisenhunt could add a weapon from the left side in the rotation. He will likely fight for a rotation spot in Spring Training, but he won’t start the year with the team.
However, his impact could be felt early in the year and his ability to strike batters out could be lethal in the rotation for 2025.
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