Giants Pitcher Carson Whisenhunt Falls Victim To Troubling Injury Trend

A prevalence of arm injuries have led to a slew Tommy John surgeries in San Francisco, leaving the Giants staff undermanned in 2026 and unsure about what lies ahead.

San Francisco Giants pitcher Carson Whisenhunt being removed | Credit: Bob Kupbens | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

To be honest, the San Francisco Giants really didn't need any more bad news in 2026. Already mired in one of the most disappointing seasons in team history and a laughingstock at 54-78, they got slapped with an injury to go along with all the insults.

Starting pitcher Carson Whisenhunt was forced to leave a game between the Giants and the Cincinnati Reds at Oracle Park. The lefty exited in the third inning of the battle between San Francisco and Cincinnati. After an MRI on Tuesday it was determined he had ulnar collateral ligament damage. Surgery was recommended and it's likely he'll have Tommy John surgery in the near future.

“Everything was coming together,” Whisenhunt said, according to the San Francisco Standard. “The body was moving the way it’s supposed to. All the work I’ve been doing, it felt like it finally translated.”

“I felt really good till the last batter I faced."

San Francisco skipper Tony Vitello and his squad will face a difficult road ahead as more brothers in arms keep falling on the field of battle. The pitching staff, already thin, has been forced to carry a few hurlers here and there that likely wouldn't make the roster of a better team. For now, the club is forced to play the hand they've been dealt, even if there really aren't any aces to hold.

Surgeries Don't Replace Time Lost

Giants pitcher Adrian Houser | Credit: John Hefti-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Make no mistake, this injury isn't anything new to MLB or its players. Nor the Giants, who have had an alarming number of arms be injured to the point of requiring Tommy John surgery. Currently, Randy Rodríguez, Hayden Birdsong, Trevor McDonald, and now Whisenhunt are all on the sidelines with the same injury. It's become a trend in baseball, but it's an epidemic out in the Golden Gate City.

Annually, 29 MLB pitchers have gotten Tommy John surgery, on average, over the last five seasons. To give that an even clearer perspective, almost 39% of all active MLB pitchers have had the surgery at least once in their career, per the National Library of Medicine. Some have even had two and, on rare occasion, three of the procedures and still returned to the hill in Major League Baseball. So these days? It's been a lot less career-threatening and more like a rite of passage for a pitcher.

The downside for Whisenhunt, and any young pitcher, is the time and the timing. Just as he was establishing himself as a frontrunner for the rotation in 2027, Whiz must start again from almost scratch, somewhere at the midpoint next year — if he's lucky. In his case, this injury and surgery will be less of a minor hiccup and more of a major hindrance.